Chapter 3 - THE ROOM BEHIND THE WALL
Arthur returned at dawn with six armed men.
He looked furious.
Daniel stood across from him.
Neither trusted the other.
I stood between them holding the brass key.
Arthur stared at it.
“Where did you get that?”
“You know where.”
His jaw tightened.
“Norah.”
“You lied to me.”
“I protected you.”
“You lied.”
He said nothing.
That was answer enough.
Arthur ordered everyone out.
When the room was empty, he closed the door.
“I couldn't tell you everything.”
“Why?”
“Because I wasn't sure who was listening.”
I folded my arms.
“You knew my father.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Arthur stared at the floor.
“Your father was the reason I stayed alive after Gabriel tried to kill me.”
I waited.
“He found out Gabriel had ordered my execution.”
Arthur's voice was flat now.
“Thomas warned me.”
“What did he want in return?”
“Nothing.”
“That doesn't sound like my father.”
Arthur looked at me.
“Your father believed people could still be saved.”
That sentence hurt more than it should have.
“My father spent his whole life saving everyone except himself.”
Arthur's face softened.
For the first time, I saw something close to guilt.
“I know.”
He walked toward a bookshelf.
“There is a room in this house that doesn't appear on the blueprints.”
He pulled a book.
Nothing happened.
He pulled another.
A panel opened.
Behind it was a narrow passage.
I stared.
“You knew about this?”
“Gabriel built it.”
We entered.
The passage smelled of dust and old stone.
At the end was a steel door.
Arthur inserted a key.
Not mine.
His.
The door opened.
Inside was a tiny room.
One chair.
One desk.
One safe.
And on the desk sat a tape recorder.
Arthur stopped.
I looked at him.
“That's yours?”
“No.”
He pointed.
“That's your father's.”
My pulse raced.
I pressed play.
Static.
Then my father's voice.
Older.
Tired.
But unmistakable.
“If you're hearing this, I'm dead.”
My knees weakened.
Arthur closed his eyes.
My father's recording continued.
“Norah, if you're the one listening, then they failed to find the key.”
I stared at Arthur.
He looked genuinely shaken.
My father continued.
“Never trust Gabriel Costello.”
Arthur whispered, “He's dead.”
The recording went on.
“Never trust the man who killed Gabriel.”
Silence.
I turned slowly toward Arthur.
The tape clicked.
Then my father's voice returned.
“Arthur will tell you he had no choice.”
Arthur's face went pale.
“He will say Gabriel deserved to die.”
The machine clicked again.
“But the truth is worse.”
The recording stopped.
Arthur stared at it.
“What did he mean?”
I shook my head.
“You knew this was here.”
“I knew there was a room.”
“But not the recording?”
“No.”
He looked genuinely confused.
Then we heard footsteps in the passage.
Someone was coming.
Arthur drew his gun.
He pushed me behind the desk.
The steel door opened.
A woman stepped inside.
I recognized her instantly.
Evelyn Mercer.
The former head housekeeper.
Alive.
She looked at Arthur.
Then at me.
Then she said,
“Thomas never trusted you either.”
Arthur raised his weapon.
Evelyn smiled.
“He trusted Norah.”
She pulled a folder from her coat.
“Because she's the only one who can open the second safe.”
I looked at my father’s key.
“What second safe?”
Evelyn's eyes moved to the wall.
“Your father's.”
Then every light in the hidden room turned red.
A voice came through the intercom.
“Lockdown initiated.”
Arthur swore.
Evelyn stepped back.
“Someone activated the house defenses.”
Arthur grabbed my arm.
“Run.”
May you like
But before we could move, the steel door slammed shut.
And from somewhere inside the walls came the unmistakable sound of a gun being loaded.
