Chapter 2 - Beneath the Floorboards
Ten minutes later, two specialized tactical technicians entered the nursery carrying heavy metallic cases containing architectural sonar equipment. The infants remained unnaturally silent, watching Sophie as she sat cross-legged on the rug, whispering nonsensical stories to her cloth doll.
"Scan the subfloor right beneath this section," Adrien ordered, pacing the perimeter of the room like a caged predator. "Check for frequencies, wiring, or mechanical devices."
The lead technician swept a handheld transducer across the wool surface. Digital meters flickered on his tablet monitor, displaying visual depth maps of the building's structural timber. Suddenly, the blue readout spiked into bright red indicators.
"We have a high-frequency acoustic resonance coming from inside the floor joists, sir," the technician reported, adjusting his headset. "It’s emitting an ultra-high pitch—around twenty-five kilohertz. Adults over thirty can rarely hear it, but infants and young children would experience it as intolerable physical pressure in their inner ears."
Adrien’s jaw tightened. "Is it an equipment malfunction?"
"No, Mr. Moretti," the technician replied, zooming in on the sonar scan. "It’s a deliberate micro-transmitter wired directly into your estate’s main electrical grid. It’s designed to emit localized acoustic distress signals without triggering standard audio bugs."
Elena let out a muffled sob, pressing her cheek into her hands. "Someone... someone is intentionally hurting the babies?"
Adrien’s expression transformed into a mask of terrifying coldness. The panic that had gripped him for two hours evaporated, replaced by the lethal focus that had made him the most feared authority in Chicago. Someone had bypassed his multi-million-dollar perimeter security to install a torture device directly under his children's cribs.
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"Marco," Adrien said, his tone dangerously low. "Lock down the entire estate. Nobody enters, nobody leaves. I want every staff member, contractor, and security guard brought down to the main hall immediately."
He looked back at Sophie, who was still sitting peacefully on the rug. The small four-year-old had somehow sensed a physical frequency that two world-class medical doctors had missed. "Elena," Adrien added, turning to his housekeeper. "Your daughter stays with me."
