Chapter 3 - The house disappeared into darkness.
Someone screamed.
A glass shattered.
Maisie cried out.
Graham reached for her immediately.
“Stay with me.”
His phone flashlight came on.
Nothing in the foyer looked the same.
Shadows stretched across the marble.
The security alarm remained silent.
That bothered him.
The generators should have activated within seconds.
They didn't.
“Why isn't the backup power on?”
Victor answered from the darkness.
“Because someone disabled it.”
Graham turned toward him.
“How?”
Victor didn't answer.
Then a sound came from upstairs.
A door slammed.
Graham looked up.
“The study.”
He grabbed Maisie.
“Stay with Officer Lewis.”
The younger security guard stepped forward.
“I've got her.”
Graham ran upstairs.
Victor followed.
Graham unlocked the study.
The room was empty.
The old fireplace was dark.
The bookshelves stood undisturbed.
Then Graham saw the desk.
One drawer was open.
He hadn't left it open.
He walked toward it.
Inside was an envelope.
His name was written across it.
GRAHAM.
He opened it.
A single photograph fell into his hand.
Claire.
Standing outside Northvale Behavioral Institute.
But that wasn't the shocking part.
Standing beside her was Sloane.
Graham stared at the image.
The date stamped on the back was nine months before Claire died.
“No.”
Victor said nothing.
Graham turned.
“You knew.”
Victor's silence answered for him.
“How long?”
“It wasn't what you think.”
“Then tell me what it is.”
Victor stepped closer.
“Your wife had been investigating Sloane.”
Graham's heartbeat thundered.
“What?”
“She hired a private investigator.”
“What did she find?”
“She discovered that Sloane had used several aliases.”
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
Victor looked at the photograph.
“Claire wasn't afraid of Sloane because of money.”
“Then why?”
“Because of Maisie.”
Graham's jaw tightened.
“What does Sloane want with my daughter?”
Victor hesitated.
Then a voice came from the doorway.
“Not your daughter.”
Graham spun around.
Nobody stood there.
The voice had come from his phone.
He looked down.
An unknown number had sent him a video.
He opened it.
The screen showed Maisie's bedroom.
Timestamp.
Last night.
Sloane entered.
She was carrying a small box.
She placed it beneath Maisie's bed.
Then she looked directly toward the camera.
Not the room.
The camera.
She knew she was being watched.
Sloane crouched.
She whispered something.
Graham turned the volume higher.
“Tell your father the truth.”
The video ended.
Graham stared.
A second video appeared.
He opened it.
This time, Claire was on screen.
Alive.
Pale.
Terrified.
She was sitting in a parked car.
“Graham, if you're seeing this, something happened to me.”
His knees almost gave way.
Claire looked directly into the camera.
“Do not trust Sloane.”
Graham's breathing stopped.
“She will tell you I was unstable. She will tell you I was paranoid. She will tell you I wanted to leave you.”
Claire shook her head.
“That isn't true.”
Tears filled her eyes.
“She has been watching Maisie.”
The video glitched.
Then Claire whispered:
“She thinks Maisie saw what happened.”
The screen went black.
Graham replayed it.
Then again.
“What happened?” he whispered.
Victor looked horrified.
“I thought that video was destroyed.”
Graham turned.
“You've seen it?”
Victor didn't respond.
“You've seen it!”
Victor finally closed his eyes.
“Claire sent it to me the night before she died.”
The room seemed to shrink.
“Why didn't you give it to me?”
“Because she told me not to.”
“Why?”
“She said if you saw it too early, they would know she had warned you.”
“They?”
Victor's face went pale.
“That part was never clear.”
Graham stepped closer.
“Who are they?”
Victor whispered:
“I only know one thing.”
“What?”
“The Northvale Institute isn't just a behavioral facility.”
“What is it?”
Victor looked toward the hall.
“It is used by wealthy families to make inconvenient people disappear.”
Graham stared at him.
“Disappear?”
“Children. Spouses. Heirs.”
A sound came from downstairs.
A scream.
Maisie.
Graham ran.
He reached the foyer.
The security officers were gone.
Maisie was standing alone.
And Sloane was nowhere in sight.
The front door stood open.
Graham grabbed Maisie.
“Where is Sloane?”
Maisie pointed toward the driveway.
“She took the rabbit.”
“What?”
“She said Mommy hid something inside it.”
Graham looked down.
The stuffed rabbit was gone.
For a moment he couldn't breathe.
Then he saw something lying on the floor.
A small golden key.
Tied to a red ribbon.
The same kind of ribbon Claire used to tie around the handle of her jewelry box.
Graham picked it up.
Victor came downstairs.
“What does it open?”
Graham stared at the key.
“I know exactly where.”
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The key opened a locked room in the basement.
A room Graham hadn't entered since the night Claire died.
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