Chapter 5 - The Night My Husband Disappeared
"Lily!"
I ran through the house.
Closet.
Bathroom.
Hallway.
Kitchen.
Nothing.
Claire was behind me.
"She couldn't have gotten out."
"Then where is she?"
My phone rang.
I answered immediately.
A man's voice spoke.
"Don't panic."
My entire body went cold.
"Where is my daughter?"
"She's safe."
"Let me speak to her."
A pause.
Then Lily's voice.
"Mommy?"
I nearly collapsed.
"Lily! Where are you?"
"I don't know."
"Are you hurt?"
"No."
"Is someone with you?"
Silence.
Then the man's voice returned.
"You have something that belongs to us."
"What?"
"The black device."
I looked at Claire.
She stared at me.
"You mean the one from the hotel?"
"Yes."
"I don't have it."
"You're lying."
"I swear."
"Then go to Room 714."
The call ended.
Claire grabbed my arm.
"Don't go."
"They have Lily."
"If you go alone, you'll walk into a trap."
"Then come with me."
She looked at me.
"I will."
We drove to Bellmore Hotel.
The ballroom had been closed.
The hotel was almost empty.
A security guard stood near the elevator.
He looked at Claire.
Then me.
He stepped aside.
The elevator opened.
The number 7 glowed above us.
We went up.
Neither of us spoke.
When the doors opened, Room 714 was at the end of the corridor.
The door was already unlocked.
I pushed it open.
Inside was darkness.
A single lamp flickered beside a desk.
There was a chair.
A table.
And an old television.
On the screen was a video.
I pressed play.
Daniel appeared.
Three years younger.
Alive.
Sitting in this exact room.
My breath caught.
"Mara."
His voice.
His real voice.
Not a recording I'd kept on my phone.
Not a memory.
Him.
"If you're watching this, something went wrong."
I covered my mouth.
Claire stood behind me.
Daniel continued.
"I need you to know that I didn't leave you."
Tears filled my eyes.
"I didn't abandon Lily."
He looked directly into the camera.
"I found evidence that someone was using Bellmore Hotel to move money through fake charity accounts."
Claire whispered:
"Keep watching."
Daniel continued.
"At first I thought it was only financial fraud."
He shook his head.
"It wasn't."
The video flickered.
"Someone was paying people to erase records."
Another flicker.
"Someone was paying employees to lie."
Then Daniel leaned toward the camera.
"And someone was helping them from inside my family."
I turned toward Claire.
She looked down.
Daniel said:
"If anything happens to me, the person who helped them will try to convince Mara that I was reckless."
He paused.
"Don't believe them."
The screen went black.
Then a new video appeared.
Daniel was standing in the hotel parking garage.
He looked frightened.
He was talking to someone off-camera.
I couldn't hear the other person's voice.
Daniel said:
"You promised my family would be left alone."
Then another voice answered.
A woman's voice.
I froze.
I knew that voice.
Claire.
"No," I whispered.
The recording continued.
Claire's recorded voice said:
"You don't understand what you've gotten yourself into."
Daniel replied:
"I understand perfectly."
The video ended.
I turned toward Claire.
"You lied to me."
"I was trying to protect you."
"You were there."
"Yes."
"You knew."
"Yes."
"You knew he survived."
Claire's face crumpled.
"For three hours."
"What?"
"Daniel survived for three hours after the crash."
I stared at her.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because they threatened Lily."
My heart broke.
"Who?"
Claire opened her mouth.
A sound came from behind the wall.
Three knocks.
Then silence.
We both turned.
There was a hidden panel beside the bookshelf.
I pulled it open.
A narrow room was behind it.
Inside was a chair.
A table.
A recorder.
And dozens of photographs.
Every photograph showed my family.
Me.
Lily.
Daniel.
Claire.
Our house.
Our car.
Our daughter's school.
Someone had been watching us for years.
Then I saw the newest photograph.
It had been taken that morning.
Lily was standing outside my mother's house.
The timestamp was only two hours old.
On the back was a single sentence.
YOU BROUGHT CLAIRE. THAT WAS YOUR MISTAKE.
Claire whispered:
"Mara..."
I turned.
She was staring at the photograph.
"Look at the timestamp."
I did.
The photograph had been taken after we left my mother's house.
Which meant someone had followed us.
And they knew exactly where we were.
Then the hidden room's phone began to ring.
May you like
The caller ID showed one name.
DANIEL WHITMORE.
