Chapter 2 - The Enemy Inside The House
The phone slipped from the bodyguard’s hand.
Everyone turned.
Nobody spoke.
The parking garage suddenly felt smaller.
Harlan Voss stared at the man who had just received the message.
“Say it again.”
The bodyguard swallowed.
“Your security system detected an unauthorized entry at the Voss residence.”
Harlan’s expression changed.
Not anger.
Not confusion.
Recognition.
Like a piece of a puzzle he didn’t want to fit had finally clicked into place.
“What entry?”
The man looked down at the phone.
“The east wing.”
Belle heard those words.
Immediately, her small body stiffened.
I noticed.
I noticed because for the last twenty minutes, that little girl had been holding my hand like I was the only safe thing left in the world.
But when the bodyguard mentioned the east wing of her own house, she looked terrified.
Harlan saw it too.
“Belle.”
His voice softened.
“What happened in the east wing?”
The little girl looked away.
That scared me more than anything.
A child could cry.
A child could scream.
But Belle looked like someone who had already learned that silence was safer.
Harlan slowly reached toward her.
“Belle, look at me.”
She did.
“Did someone hurt you there?”
Her lips trembled.
“No.”
Harlan frowned.
“No?”
Belle shook her head.
“They didn’t hurt me there.”
The words hung in the air.
Because everyone understood what she meant.
Someone had hurt her somewhere else.
I watched Harlan’s face carefully.
The man everyone feared was suddenly struggling to control his emotions.
“Who took you to the garage?”
Belle looked down.
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t remember?”
She shook her head.
“I remember the house.”
Harlan became completely still.
“What about the house?”
Belle looked at the armed men around us.
Then at me.
Then back at her father.
“There was shouting.”
Her voice was barely audible.
“Mommy’s room.”
I felt Harlan’s body tense.
I didn’t know who Belle’s mother was.
I didn’t know why a six-year-old girl was being abandoned in a parking garage.
But I knew that sentence mattered.
A lot.
“What did you hear?” Harlan asked.
Belle squeezed my hand.
“She said she would tell you.”
Harlan’s eyes narrowed.
“Who?”
Belle looked afraid to answer.
“Who said she would tell me?”
The little girl whispered:
“Mrs. Elena.”
Nobody moved.
One of the bodyguards looked away.
Another exchanged a quick glance with someone behind him.
Harlan noticed.
“Everyone step back.”
His voice was quiet.
But every person obeyed immediately.
The garage became silent except for the sound of rain hitting the entrance ramp.
I looked at Belle.
“Who is Mrs. Elena?”
Nobody answered.
That told me more than any explanation could.
Harlan stood slowly.
“Rue.”
I looked at him.
“Stay with Belle.”
The way he said it wasn’t a request.
It was a command.
But there was something underneath it.
Trust.
A stranger.
A waitress with no money.
Someone he had met less than ten minutes ago.
And somehow, he trusted me with the most important thing in his life.
“What are you going to do?” I asked.
His eyes moved toward the darkness of the garage.
“Find out who thought they could touch my daughter.”
The words were calm.
Too calm.
One of the men approached.
“Mr. Voss, we should move immediately.”
Harlan looked at him.
“Who has access to the east wing?”
The man hesitated.
Only for a second.
But Harlan saw it.
“Answer me.”
“Family members.”
The air changed.
Family.
That was the word nobody wanted to say.
Harlan looked back at Belle.
The little girl was watching everyone.
She wasn’t confused.
She knew something was wrong.
I crouched beside her.
“Belle.”
She looked at me.
“Do you know who brought you there?”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I saw the car.”
“What car?”
She swallowed.
“A black car.”
I glanced toward the three SUVs.
“Like these?”
She nodded.
“No.”
Her voice became smaller.
“Like Daddy’s.”
Everyone heard it.
Harlan’s face hardened.
Because that meant whoever took her had access to the same world he lived in.
The same vehicles.
The same security.
The same secrets.
A person close enough to know exactly how to make her disappear.
Harlan took out his phone.
“Lock down the house.”
The bodyguard immediately responded.
“Yes, sir.”
“No one enters.”
“Yes, sir.”
“No one leaves.”
The man hesitated.
Then nodded.
“Yes, sir.”
I watched Harlan.
“You really think someone in your house did this?”
He didn’t answer immediately.
That silence was an answer.
“I think,” he finally said, “someone wanted me to believe my enemies were responsible.”
His eyes moved to Belle.
“But my enemies don’t know my daughter’s habits.”
He looked at the phone in his hand.
“They don’t know which emergency contact she would choose.”
Then he looked at me.
“They don’t know she trusts strangers when she’s scared.”
I felt something uncomfortable in my chest.
Because I realized something.
Harlan wasn’t just looking for the person who abandoned Belle.
He was looking for the person who knew his daughter better than anyone.
A person inside his home.
A person who had been close enough to plan everything.
A few minutes later, we left the parking garage.
I sat in the back of one SUV with Belle.
Harlan sat across from us.
The entire ride was silent.
Belle eventually fell asleep against my shoulder.
Harlan watched her.
For a moment, he looked nothing like the man from the rumors.
He looked exhausted.
Broken.
Like he had spent years protecting everyone except the one person who needed him most.
“You saved her life.”
His voice surprised me.
I looked up.
“I just found her.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“You stopped walking.”
I didn’t understand.
“What?”
“Most people would have kept going.”
His eyes moved toward the sleeping child.
“You heard something behind a concrete pillar and you stopped.”
I looked away.
“I couldn’t leave her.”
Something changed in his expression.
Like those words meant more than I realized.
The SUV finally stopped.
I looked outside.
And my heart dropped.
The Voss residence was not a home.
It was a fortress.
Tall gates.
Security cameras.
Armed guards.
A place designed to keep people out.
But apparently, someone inside had already broken the rules.
The gates opened.
The vehicles entered.
Belle woke up.
The second she saw the house, her face changed.
“No.”
Harlan immediately leaned forward.
“What?”
She grabbed my sleeve.
“I don’t want to go inside.”
The entire car went silent.
Harlan looked at his daughter.
“Belle, why?”
She stared at the mansion.
Then whispered:
“Because she’s still there.”
Harlan’s eyes sharpened.
“Who is still there?”
Belle didn’t answer.
She just pointed toward one of the upstairs windows.
A light was on.
A shadow moved behind the curtain.
I felt the temperature in the car drop.
Because everyone had been told the house was empty.
Everyone had been told security had cleared it.
But someone was watching.
Harlan stepped out first.
His men surrounded the vehicle.
“Stay here,” he told me.
Then he looked at Belle.
“I’m coming back.”
Belle grabbed his hand.
“Daddy.”
He stopped.
“Don’t trust everyone.”
Harlan stared at his daughter.
Then slowly looked toward his own guards.
For the first time, even they looked nervous.
He walked toward the entrance.
The front door opened automatically.
The lights inside flickered.
One of the guards raised his weapon.
“Sir…”
Harlan stopped.
Because from inside the dark hallway, a voice quietly called his name.
A voice he recognized.
A voice that should not have been inside his house.
“Harlan…”
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His face went pale.
And then the woman stepped out of the shadows holding something that made him forget how to breathe...
