Chapter 5: My Mother's Voice
The darkness swallowed the basement.
Ava screamed.
I grabbed her and pulled her against my chest.
"Don't move."
Marcus raised his gun toward the stairs.
Serena stood completely still.
Then we heard the voice again.
"Daniel?"
My mother's voice.
Soft.
Familiar.
Impossible.
"Daniel, sweetheart..."
My entire body went cold.
I hadn't heard that voice in nine years.
Not since the day she supposedly died.
I remembered the last conversation we had.
She had called me from the hospital.
She sounded weak.
She told me she was tired.
She told me not to come.
She said she loved me.
Two hours later, the hospital called.
Cardiac arrest.
No visitors.
No goodbye.
I had buried her beside my father.
Or at least, I thought I had.
Now her voice was standing on the other side of a basement door.
"Daniel."
Marcus whispered:
"Don't answer."
I looked at him.
"That's my mother."
"No."
"You heard her."
"I heard someone using her voice."
Ava was trembling.
"That's Grandma."
Serena suddenly covered her mouth.
"What?"
Ava looked at her.
"That's Grandma's voice."
Serena shook her head.
"No."
The fear in her eyes was unmistakable.
She wasn't pretending.
She was terrified.
Marcus moved toward the basement stairs.
I stopped him.
"What are you doing?"
"Finding out who is upstairs."
"No."
He looked at me.
"Then we're all trapped."
A loud bang came from above.
The door shook.
Ava buried her face against my chest.
Someone was trying to get in.
Then the voice changed.
"Daniel, I know you're down there."
I froze.
The voice wasn't my mother's anymore.
It was a man's voice.
Then came a laugh.
A familiar laugh.
Thomas.
My father's old business partner.
Marcus looked at me.
"Now you understand."
I felt anger replacing fear.
"Open the door!"
Thomas laughed again.
"That's not a good idea."
"Where's my mother?"
Silence.
Then:
"Still asking the wrong questions."
Marcus whispered:
"He's trying to keep you talking."
"Why?"
"To determine where we are."
I looked at the basement.
There was nowhere to hide.
Then I noticed something.
A small vent behind the filing cabinet.
I moved toward it.
Marcus followed.
"What?"
"Air duct."
He looked.
"Too small."
"Not for Ava."
Ava looked at us.
"What?"
I crouched.
"There might be another way out."
Marcus moved the cabinet.
Behind it was a narrow opening.
Cold air rushed through.
A passage.
I couldn't believe it.
"This house has a tunnel?"
Serena whispered:
"My father built it."
I looked at her.
"Your father?"
She nodded.
"Before he died."
"Where does it lead?"
"Outside."
Marcus looked toward the stairs.
"Then we're leaving."
We squeezed into the passage.
It was barely wide enough.
Ava went first.
I followed.
Marcus came behind us.
Serena was last.
The tunnel was dark and damp.
We crawled for several minutes.
Then Ava stopped.
"Daddy."
"What?"
"There's something here."
She pointed.
A metal box was embedded in the wall.
I opened it.
Inside was a flashlight.
A first-aid kit.
Several bottles of water.
And another photograph.
I pulled it out.
It showed my mother.
Standing beside Claire.
And Serena.
All three women were together.
On the back was a date.
Seven years ago.
The same year Ava was born.
I stared at it.
"My mother knew Claire."
Serena whispered:
"Yes."
"How?"
She didn't answer.
Marcus did.
"Your mother was the one who hired me."
I turned.
"What?"
"She knew Claire was in danger."
"From Thomas?"
"From your father."
I stopped.
"What?"
Marcus looked at me.
"Your father wasn't protecting Ava."
"He was trying to take her."
I couldn't breathe.
"Why?"
"Because Ava wasn't just his granddaughter."
I stared at him.
"Then what was she?"
Marcus looked at Ava.
"She was proof."
"Proof of what?"
"That your father's company had been hiding something."
"What?"
Marcus hesitated.
Then Serena said:
"Human trafficking."
The words barely registered.
I stared at her.
"No."
"He wasn't selling children," Marcus said quickly.
"He was buying them."
I felt sick.
"Why?"
"Medical research."
I looked at Ava.
She was listening.
I immediately moved her behind me.
"What did they do to those children?"
Marcus's expression hardened.
"They tested experimental treatments on them."
My stomach turned.
"Children?"
"Children who had no one to protect them."
"Why Ava?"
Marcus pointed toward the photograph.
"Because Claire was one of the researchers."
I looked at Serena.
"You knew?"
She nodded.
"Then why did you stay with me?"
Tears rolled down her face.
"Because I loved you."
I laughed bitterly.
"You lied to me for five years."
"I lied to keep you alive."
"Those aren't the same thing."
"I know."
We reached the end of the tunnel.
A metal hatch opened into the woods behind the house.
Cold night air hit my face.
We climbed out.
I immediately called the police.
Then I stopped.
Marcus grabbed my wrist.
"Don't."
"Why?"
"Look."
Across the road was a black SUV.
Engine running.
Lights off.
Someone was sitting inside.
Watching us.
Then another vehicle appeared behind it.
And another.
Three cars.
All black.
I whispered:
"How did they find us?"
Marcus looked at Serena.
She shook her head.
"I didn't tell anyone."
Ava suddenly grabbed my hand.
"Daddy."
"What?"
She pointed toward the SUV.
"That's Thomas."
The driver's door opened.
A man stepped out.
Thomas.
He raised his hand.
Not a weapon.
A phone.
My phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
I answered.
Thomas's voice came through.
"Daniel."
I stared at him from across the road.
"Where's my mother?"
He smiled.
"You still believe she died."
"Did she?"
"No."
My heart stopped.
"Where is she?"
"Safe."
"Let me talk to her."
Thomas laughed.
"You've been asking the wrong question for years."
"Then tell me the right one."
He looked directly at Ava.
"The right question is..."
He paused.
"Why does your daughter remember a woman you've never met?"
I looked at Ava.
She was staring at him.
Then something happened.
Her face changed.
She stepped backward.
"No."
I crouched beside her.
"What is it?"
She was crying.
"That's him."
"Thomas?"
She shook her head.
"No."
She pointed at him.
"He's the man who came into Mommy's room."
Thomas smiled.
"She remembers."
I stood.
"What did you do to my daughter?"
Thomas's smile disappeared.
"Nothing."
Then he said something that made every hair on my arms rise.
"Ask her what happened the night Claire disappeared."
I looked at Ava.
She was shaking.
"Daddy..."
"It's okay."
"No."
She covered her ears.
"I don't want to remember."
Thomas stepped closer.
"She already does."
Marcus raised his gun.
Thomas's men immediately raised theirs.
For a moment, everyone stood frozen.
Then Thomas said:
"Daniel, you have two choices."
"What?"
"Give me Ava..."
He paused.
"...or watch your mother die."
My blood froze.
"She's here?"
Thomas nodded.
He pointed toward the SUV.
The rear door opened.
An elderly woman was sitting inside.
Gray hair.
Thin face.
Tears in her eyes.
My mother.
Alive.
She looked directly at me.
And whispered:
"Daniel..."
I couldn't move.
Nine years of grief collapsed in a single second.
My mother raised one trembling hand against the window.
Then she mouthed three words.
"Don't trust Serena."
I turned toward my wife.
Serena was crying.
But she wasn't looking at my mother.
She was looking at Ava.
And Ava was staring back at her with pure terror.
Then Ava whispered:
"Mommy was there."
Serena's face went white.
"Where?"
Ava pointed at the SUV.
"The night Grandma disappeared."
I looked at Serena.
She slowly shook her head.
"No."
Ava's voice broke.
"You told me to forget."
Thomas smiled.
Marcus lowered his gun.
And I realized the terrifying truth.
My mother wasn't the only person who had been lying to me.
Ava remembered the night everything began.
May you like
And whatever she remembered...
could destroy every person standing in front of me.
