Chapter 4 - The Locked WingThe emergency lights flickered on.

Mark grabbed Lily.

"Stay behind me."

Daniel tried the vault door.

Locked.

The officers checked the hallway.

Nothing.

Then came another sound.

Metal scraping stone.

It was coming from below.

The floor trembled.

Lily whispered:

"Daddy, I heard that before."

Mark looked at her.

"When?"

"Victoria used to take me here."

His blood ran cold.

"You've been in this wing?"

Lily nodded.

"She told me not to tell you."

Daniel stared.

"How often?"

"Twice."

Mark knelt.

"What did she show you?"

Lily hesitated.

"A little room."

"Where?"

"Behind the stairs."

They found the door twelve feet from the vault.

It wasn't on any blueprint.

Mark opened it.

Inside was a child's bedroom.

Fresh sheets.

A small lamp.

A suitcase.

Lily's clothes.

Photographs of Lily.

Dozens of them.

Some had been taken secretly.

One showed Lily sleeping.

Another showed her leaving school.

Another showed her standing outside the estate with her backpack.

Mark's face turned white.

"Why would Victoria have these?"

Daniel picked up the suitcase.

Inside were plane tickets.

One was for Lily.

Destination: Vancouver.

Departure: three days from now.

Mark stared at the ticket.

"She was going to send her away."

A small recording device sat on the desk.

Daniel pressed play.

Victoria's voice filled the room.

"You'll leave quietly, Lily."

The child on the recording sounded terrified.

"I don't want to."

"You'll get used to it."

"Where's Daddy?"

"Your father doesn't want you anymore."

Mark closed his eyes.

Lily began crying.

"She lied."

Mark hugged her.

"I know."

Another recording started automatically.

This time Victoria sounded angry.

"Mark will never give me the authority."

A man answered.

"Then we'll make him."

Mark recognized the voice.

Richard Vale.

Daniel looked at him.

"We need to find Richard."

Suddenly the mansion alarm blared.

An officer ran in.

"Someone breached the garage."

Mark grabbed his phone.

"Call backup."

Too late.

A black SUV tore through the estate gates.

Mark watched it disappear into the night.

But someone had been left behind.

On the driver's seat camera, a face appeared.

Richard Vale.

The man who had helped Victoria forge the trust.

Mark turned to Daniel.

"He came here for something."

Daniel looked at the suitcase.

"Maybe not."

He pointed toward the bed.

Underneath it was a wooden box.

Mark pulled it out.

Inside was Eleanor's wedding ring.

Mark stopped breathing.

Daniel whispered:

"Victoria didn't steal that."

Mark stared at the ring.

"No."

He remembered the day Eleanor died.

She had been wearing it.

"It was in the car."

Daniel's face tightened.

"Then someone removed it before the police arrived."

Mark looked at Lily.

"Who?"

Lily's answer came softly.

"Victoria."

Before Mark could respond, his phone buzzed.

A message appeared.

YOU ARE LOOKING IN THE WRONG PLACE.

Then another.

THE WOMAN YOU TRUSTED MOST WAS NOT THE WOMAN YOU THINK SHE WAS.

Mark stared at the screen.

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Daniel read the final message.

ASK MARIA WHAT HAPPENED THE NIGHT ELEANOR DIED.