Chapter 2 - THE VOICE BEHIND THE WALLFor three seconds, nobody moved.
Then another gunshot exploded above us.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
I grabbed Grace.
"Stay behind me."
She shook her head.
"No."
"Grace."
"I can hear them."
My eyes moved toward Evelyn.
She was already at the cellar door.
"How many?"
"Four."
"Armed?"
"Yes."
She listened.
"Five."
I stared at her.
"You said four."
"The fifth one is coming through the kitchen."
She was right.
A crash echoed from somewhere upstairs.
My security team should have responded by now.
They hadn't.
That scared me more than the gunshots.
I opened my phone and called Marcus, my head of security.
No answer.
I called again.
Nothing.
Evelyn looked at me.
"They've already taken the house."
"No."
"Listen."
We did.
Nothing.
No footsteps.
No shouting.
No radio chatter.
The mansion was silent.
Too silent.
I had lived in that house for fourteen years.
I knew every sound it made.
The pipes.
The elevator.
The old wooden staircase.
The generator.
And now I heard something that didn't belong.
Three slow taps.
From inside the cellar wall.
Grace turned toward it.
"They're there."
I frowned.
"What's there?"
"The room."
"What room?"
She walked toward the wall.
I grabbed her shoulder.
"Stop."
She touched the stone.
"There's a door."
My heart pounded.
"There isn't."
"There is."
Evelyn stared at the wall.
For the first time since I'd met her, genuine surprise crossed her face.
"What?"
Grace ran her fingers along the stone.
"There's a hollow space behind here."
I looked at Evelyn.
"You knew?"
"No."
"You're lying."
"I'm not."
Grace pressed her palm against one stone.
"Here."
I pushed it.
Nothing.
Evelyn looked around the cellar.
Then she noticed something.
A brass hook behind an old wine rack.
She pulled it.
The entire shelf shifted.
A hidden passage opened.
Cold air rushed from inside.
I stared into the darkness.
"How long has this been here?"
Evelyn's face had gone pale.
"Longer than you think."
A woman's voice came from the passage.
Soft.
Almost broken.
"Michael?"
I stopped breathing.
Grace whispered:
"Mom?"
The voice came again.
"Michael..."
I raised my gun.
"No."
Evelyn grabbed my wrist.
"Don't."
"That's my wife's voice."
"Exactly."
"What does that mean?"
She looked into the darkness.
"It means they know your worst weakness."
Something moved.
A figure stepped into the cellar.
A woman.
Dark hair.
Pale face.
Blood on her blouse.
My heart slammed against my ribs.
For one impossible second, I thought I was looking at Elena.
Then the woman lifted her head.
Not Elena.
But close enough to destroy me.
She smiled.
"Michael."
I raised my gun.
"Who are you?"
She laughed softly.
"Your wife asked me to find your daughter."
Grace stepped forward.
"Why?"
The woman looked directly at her.
"Because she was never supposed to be blind."
I couldn't breathe.
"What?"
The woman smiled again.
"Your daughter can see."
Grace froze.
I looked at my daughter.
"She's blind."
"No."
The woman shook her head.
"She was made blind."
My gun lowered slightly.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
The woman touched her own face.
"Six years ago, Elena discovered what Vincent was doing."
My blood ran cold.
"What was he doing?"
"Preparing Grace."
"For what?"
The woman answered in a whisper.
"To inherit the Wolf."
Evelyn suddenly drew her weapon.
"Get down!"
The woman moved.
A bullet tore through her chest.
Grace screamed.
I fired toward the passage.
Two men rushed into the cellar.
Evelyn shot the first one.
I shot the second.
The woman collapsed.
I ran to her.
"Who are you?"
Blood bubbled at her lips.
She grabbed my sleeve.
"Elena is alive."
Then she died.
I stared at her.
Evelyn whispered:
"Michael."
I looked up.
"What?"
"There is something you need to see."
She pointed at the dead woman's hand.
She was holding a photograph.
I pulled it free.
The picture was old.
Elena stood beside a younger Evelyn.
And between them was Vincent.
All three were smiling.
On the back of the photograph, someone had written one sentence.
THE THREE WHO CHOSE THE GIRL.
I looked at Evelyn.
"You knew my wife."
She didn't deny it.
"Yes."
"You knew Vincent."
"Yes."
"What aren't you telling me?"
Evelyn's eyes filled with something I couldn't identify.
Fear.
"Everything."
Before I could speak, a phone rang inside the dead woman's coat.
I answered.
Silence.
Then a man's voice.
"Mr. Caruso."
"Who is this?"
"You have ten minutes."
"For what?"
"To choose."
"Choose what?"
"The life of your daughter..."
A pause.
"...or the life of your wife."
The line went dead.
I stared at Evelyn.
Then Grace spoke from behind me.
"Dad."
Her voice was trembling.
"What?"
"I don't think Mom is alive."
I turned.
Grace's face was wet with tears.
"Because that wasn't Mom's voice."
I froze.
Grace wiped her cheek.
"It sounded like her..."
She pointed toward the dead woman's body.
"...but Mom's heartbeat was different."
Evelyn's eyes widened.
"What did you just say?"
Grace looked at her.
"I remember it."
"Remember what?"
May you like
Grace whispered:
"Being able to see."
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