Chapter 3 - The Locked Room Upstairs
Adrien reached the door before Maria did.
"Stay behind me."
"No."
"Maria."
"My daughter is upstairs."
The handle stopped moving.
Adrien opened the door sharply.
The corridor was empty.
Emergency lights flickered red along the floor.
Maria ran.
"Lily!"
Adrien followed.
Mrs. Harris met them at the staircase.
"Lily's gone."
Maria stopped so suddenly Adrien nearly collided with her.
"What?"
"She heard the noise. I turned toward the window, and when I looked back—"
Maria pushed past her.
"Lily!"
A small pink boot sat at the top of the stairs.
Maria picked it up.
Her daughter's.
Adrien's face hardened.
"Nobody could have entered from outside that quickly."
Maria understood.
"Someone was already inside."
Adrien spoke into his radio.
No response.
The system was dead.
He looked toward the west wing.
"There's another generator."
"Where?"
"Upstairs."
They moved through the dark corridor.
Maria called Lily's name.
Nothing.
Then they heard tapping.
Three knocks.
Pause.
Three knocks.
"That way," Maria whispered.
Adrien led her toward a door she had never seen open.
It was painted the same color as the wall.
He entered a code.
Red light.
Denied.
"Someone changed it."
The tapping came again.
Maria pressed her ear against the door.
"Lily?"
"Mama?"
Maria nearly collapsed.
"I'm here."
"It's dark."
"Are you hurt?"
"No."
"Open the door."
"I can't."
Adrien examined the lock.
"How did you get in there?"
Lily sniffed.
"A man told me Daddy was waiting."
Maria's blood chilled.
"What man?"
"I don't know."
Adrien found a concealed panel and pulled it open.
"Back away from the door, Lily."
He manually released the mechanism.
The door opened.
Maria rushed inside.
Lily stood in a narrow room lined with old boxes.
Maria gathered her into her arms.
Adrien switched on a flashlight.
The beam moved across shelves.
Photographs.
Files.
Old computer equipment.
"This was Eva's room," he said.
Maria looked around.
"You kept it?"
"I locked it after she died."
Lily pointed.
"The man went through there."
At the back was another door.
Adrien stared at it.
"There is no other door."
But there was.
Partially hidden behind shelving.
Someone had cut through the wall.
Adrien approached.
The passage beyond descended into darkness.
Maria held Lily closer.
"How long has that been there?"
"I don't know."
Adrien's flashlight landed on the floor.
Something blue.
A ribbon.
He picked it up.
Attached was a small brass key.
Lily wriggled.
"That's from my umbrella."
Adrien looked at her.
"What?"
"It was inside the handle."
Maria stared.
"When did you find it?"
"Just now. The man opened it."
Adrien examined the umbrella Lily still carried.
The yellow duck on the handle twisted away.
Inside was an empty compartment.
Eva had hidden a key there.
For fourteen years.
Adrien looked around the room.
"What does it open?"
Lily pointed toward an old wooden cabinet.
"Maybe that."
The key fit.
Inside was a metal box.
Adrien lifted it out.
The lock opened with the same key.
Maria held her breath.
Inside lay a cassette recorder, several photographs, and a sealed envelope.
Adrien picked up the envelope.
His name was written across it.
ADRIEN — IF I DON'T GET TO TELL YOU MYSELF.
His hands trembled.
Maria noticed.
He tore it open.
Inside was one sheet of paper.
Adrien read silently.
His face changed.
"What does it say?"
He handed it to Maria.
Adrien,
If you're reading this, then I was right to be afraid.
Gabriel is helping me. Do not blame him.
The person taking money from the company is not our enemy from outside.
It's someone Dad trusts.
Someone you trust.
I've hidden the proof separately.
Gabriel knows enough to find it, but only if he survives.
Don't become what they expect you to become after I'm gone.
You are better than this family taught you to believe.
And if you ever sit outside in the rain because you think you deserve to suffer, remember what I always told you.
Don't cry, little brother.
I'll keep you dry.
Eva.
Adrien turned away.
Maria finally understood.
Lily hadn't merely said something similar.
She had repeated Eva's words almost exactly.
By accident.
Or by some impossible coincidence.
Maria touched his shoulder.
He flinched.
Not angrily.
Like a man unaccustomed to being comforted.
"Adrien."
He stared at the letter.
"I was seventeen the first time she said it."
Maria waited.
"Our father had beaten me."
The words were quiet.
"He believed fear made sons strong. Eva found me outside afterward. I wouldn't let her see me cry. She brought that ridiculous umbrella."
He looked at Lily.
"She said exactly what Lily said."
Lily hugged the umbrella.
"Was she nice?"
Adrien swallowed.
"Yes."
"Then you should remember her when you're sad."
The simplicity of it nearly destroyed him.
A noise came from the passage.
Adrien instantly turned.
Footsteps.
Someone running.
"Stay here."
He entered the passage.
Maria grabbed his arm.
"You're not going alone."
"Lily needs you."
That stopped her.
Adrien disappeared into the darkness.
Thirty seconds passed.
Then a minute.
Maria heard a struggle.
A crash.
Then silence.
"Adrien?"
Nothing.
Lily clung to her.
"Mama."
Maria found another flashlight.
"Stay behind me."
They moved toward the passage.
Adrien suddenly emerged.
Blood marked his lip.
He was dragging a man by the jacket.
Maria recognized one of the estate guards.
"Mr. Collins?"
The guard looked terrified.
Adrien shoved him against the wall.
"Who paid you?"
"I didn't have a choice."
"Who?"
"They knew my family."
"Name."
Collins shook his head.
Adrien's voice lowered.
"Someone took Maria's daughter into a hidden room. You have one opportunity to tell me who."
Collins looked at Lily.
His resistance broke.
"I don't know his real name."
"What do you call him?"
"Mr. Vale."
Adrien froze.
Maria noticed.
"You know that name."
Adrien released Collins.
"Sebastian Vale was my father's attorney."
"Was?"
"He supposedly died eleven years ago."
Maria stared at him.
Apparently dead men were becoming a pattern.
Collins reached into his pocket.
Adrien caught his wrist.
"Slowly."
"It's a phone."
He placed it on the floor.
The screen illuminated.
One unread message.
Collins whispered, "He sent that ten minutes ago."
Adrien picked it up.
The message contained only an address.
Maria recognized it.
St. Catherine's Cemetery.
Eva Voss's burial place.
Below the address were four words.
BRING THE GIRL'S UMBRELLA.
Then another message appeared.
Maria's heart stopped.
A photograph loaded.
Daniel was tied to a chair.
Behind him stood a man in a dark suit.
His face remained outside the frame.
A final line appeared beneath the image.
MIDNIGHT. COME WITHOUT POLICE.
Adrien checked the time.
11:21.
Maria stared at Daniel's photograph.
Then Lily pointed toward the screen.
"Mama?"
"What?"
"That man behind Daddy."
"You can't see his face."
"I know."
Lily pointed at his hand.
A heavy silver ring was visible.
May you like
She whispered:
"I saw that ring in this house yesterday."
