Chapter 7 - The Man Who Knew RubySomeone had known about me since I was four.
We escaped the tunnel through an abandoned warehouse three blocks away.
Nathaniel immediately called the police.
Then stopped.
Mom grabbed his arm.
"Not yet."
"Why?"
"Because Leonard Vale owned half the city's police contracts."
Nathaniel cursed under his breath.
He looked at me.
"Ruby, I need you to remember something."
"What?"
"When you were little, did anyone ever give you something?"
I thought.
A doll.
A bicycle.
A stuffed rabbit.
Then I remembered.
"There was a man."
Nathaniel went still.
"What man?"
"He came to our apartment when I was four."
Mom's face went pale.
"What man?"
"I don't know his name."
"What did he look like?"
"Gray hair."
Nathaniel's expression changed.
"Anything else?"
"He had a scar."
"Where?"
"Here."
I touched my cheek.
Mom whispered:
"Leonard."
Nathaniel's phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
A man's voice spoke.
"Hello, Nathaniel."
He froze.
"Who is this?"
"You already know."
I heard the voice.
It was the same distorted voice from the underground speaker.
Except now it wasn't distorted.
Leonard Vale.
Nathaniel's uncle.
His father's former legal adviser.
The man from my memory.
"You murdered my brother."
Leonard laughed.
"No. Your brother destroyed himself."
"Where are you?"
"Closer than you think."
The call ended.
Nathaniel stared at the phone.
A photo arrived.
It showed our apartment.
My mother stood outside.
The photo had been taken minutes earlier.
Beneath it was a message.
You should have stayed home.
Mom closed her eyes.
"They're there."
Nathaniel immediately drove us to a secure property.
The house was hidden behind tall iron gates.
Inside, there were armed guards.
I expected to feel safe.
Instead I felt trapped.
Nathaniel gave me a glass of water.
Then he sat opposite me.
"I'm going to ask you something difficult."
"Okay."
"Do you remember anything from when you were four?"
I thought carefully.
A red hallway.
A loud bang.
My father holding me.
A woman shouting.
A necklace.
And a phrase.
I whispered:
"He said, 'The blue door.'"
Nathaniel leaned forward.
"Anything else?"
"He told me never to open it."
Mom began trembling.
"Ruby."
"What?"
She looked at Nathaniel.
"The blue door was at the Graves estate."
Nathaniel stood.
"What blue door?"
"The old nursery."
His expression shifted.
"That room was sealed after Daniel disappeared."
Mom nodded.
"And Ruby was there."
I looked at her.
"Why?"
Mom hesitated.
"Because your father hid you there the night he ran."
Nathaniel's face changed.
"Ran where?"
"He told me he would come back."
"Did he?"
Mom looked at the floor.
"No."
Nathaniel walked to the window.
For several minutes, he didn't speak.
Then one of the guards entered.
"Sir, we found something."
He handed Nathaniel a photograph.
It showed an old house.
The Graves estate.
And beside the blue door stood a man.
Daniel.
The photograph was dated eleven years ago.
Nathaniel stared.
"That's impossible."
The guard swallowed.
"There's more."
He handed over another photograph.
This one was taken nine years ago.
Daniel was older.
Alive.
And standing beside a little girl.
The girl was eight years old.
It was me.
My mother screamed.
I dropped the glass.
It shattered across the floor.
Nathaniel stared at the image.
"Ruby..."
I looked at him.
"That's me."
He nodded slowly.
"But that photo was taken two years after your father supposedly died."
Nobody spoke.
Then someone fired a gun outside.
The guards rushed to the windows.
Nathaniel grabbed me.
Another photograph slid from the envelope.
On the back was written:
Daniel is alive.
May you like
And beneath it:
But he isn't the man you're supposed to be afraid of.
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