Chapter 4 - The Room Beneath the House
I heard footsteps.
Julian whispered my name.
“Claire.”
“I’m here.”
Gabriel's voice came from the hallway.
“Don't move.”
A flashlight beam cut through the darkness.
The emergency lights flickered on.
The door behind us stood open.
Nobody was there.
Gabriel checked the corridor.
Nothing.
Julian looked at the floor.
A wet footprint crossed the marble.
Then another.
Someone had come from outside.
Someone who had entered the house after the lights went out.
Gabriel followed the prints.
They stopped at a service door.
He opened it.
A staircase descended beneath the estate.
Julian stared.
“I've never seen that.”
Gabriel looked at him.
“This house has three underground levels.”
“I know.”
“This isn't on the plans.”
We went down.
The air became colder.
At the bottom was a narrow corridor.
One metal door stood at the end.
A keypad covered the lock.
Gabriel tried his access code.
Denied.
Julian looked at me.
“Try your name.”
I laughed nervously.
“Why?”
“Because apparently everyone knows things about you that you don't.”
Gabriel entered my name.
The light turned green.
The door opened.
Inside was an archive.
Boxes.
Hard drives.
Photographs.
Documents.
And one wall covered in photographs of Julian.
Before his accident.
After his accident.
In the hospital.
In his wheelchair.
At business meetings.
At home.
My stomach turned.
Someone had been watching him for years.
Gabriel found a folder.
“Vescari Medical.”
Julian opened it.
Inside were reports about his paralysis.
One page had been stamped:
TRAUMATIC SPINAL INJURY — SECONDARY NEUROLOGICAL DAMAGE.
Julian stared.
“What?”
I looked at the report.
“What is it?”
He pointed to one line.
“Secondary damage occurred six weeks after the accident.”
I didn't understand.
He did.
“Someone caused it.”
The room went silent.
A second folder fell from a shelf.
Inside was Andrew's name.
I grabbed it.
The first page contained a photograph.
Andrew stood beside Julian.
They looked younger.
On the back someone had written:
THE TWO MEN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH.
My hands trembled.
Julian read the next page.
“Andrew discovered the financial transfers.”
“What transfers?”
“Money moved from Vescari accounts into a private medical foundation.”
I looked at him.
“Why?”
Julian turned another page.
There were patient numbers.
Dates.
Names.
Then one name appeared repeatedly.
JULIAN VESCARI.
“What is this?”
Julian shook his head.
“I don't know.”
A voice came from the doorway.
“You're finally asking the right question.”
We turned.
Victoria stood there.
She held a gun.
Gabriel reached for his weapon.
“Don't.”
Victoria's hand trembled.
She wasn't aiming at us.
She was aiming at the archive.
“Someone is coming.”
Julian stared at her.
“Who?”
Victoria swallowed.
“The man who made your accident happen.”
A sound echoed above us.
Heavy footsteps.
Coming down the stairs.
Victoria whispered:
May you like
“He knows you're here.”
Then the basement door slammed shut...
