Chapter 14 - Where Did Mom Go?We searched the building.
No sign.
My mother's purse was gone.
Her phone was gone.
The front door downstairs had been left open.
Christopher called the police.
I called her repeatedly.
Nothing.
Then Sophia received a text.
She looked at it.
“Ryan…”
“What?”
“Mom's at the house.”
“Grandma's?”
Sophia nodded.
“With who?”
She showed me.
A photograph.
My mother was sitting in Grandma's living room.
Across from her stood an older man.
My heart froze.
Daniel stared at the picture.
“That isn't me.”
“Who is it?”
Daniel took a step closer.
“My brother.”
I looked at him.
“Your brother is dead.”
“I thought he was.”
Sophia whispered:
“He changed his name.”
“What's his name?”
Daniel answered:
“Michael.”
Christopher pulled out his laptop.
“Give me the photo.”
He enlarged it.
Behind Michael was the old piano.
And on the wall, Grandma's portrait.
I noticed something else.
A clock.
The time was 11:17.
“That's live.”
“How do you know?”
“Grandma's clock hasn't worked in years.”
Daniel's eyes widened.
“Then someone repaired it.”
“Why?”
He grabbed his coat.
“Because there's a compartment behind it.”
We rushed to the house.
Police followed.
The front door was unlocked.
My mother's shoes were near the hallway.
“Mom!”
No answer.
We ran into the living room.
The chair where she had been sitting was overturned.
The piano was gone.
Not moved.
Gone.
The wall behind it had been opened.
A hidden passage.
Christopher stared.
“Your grandmother never mentioned this.”
Daniel did.
“She didn't want me to know.”
We stepped inside.
The passage descended.
At the bottom was a steel door.
Locked.
Sophia touched it.
There was a keypad.
“What's the code?”
Daniel looked at me.
“Your birthday.”
I entered it.
The door opened.
Inside was a control room.
Screens.
Documents.
Bank statements.
Photographs.
And one chair.
Empty.
My mother was gone.
But there was a video playing on the main monitor.
Grandma appeared on screen.
Older.
Sicker.
But alive.
She looked directly into the camera.
“Ryan.”
I stopped breathing.
“If you're watching this, then the family has finally reached the end of the first game.”
The video paused.
Then she said:
“The person sitting in this room has already betrayed you.”
I looked at Christopher.
He went still.
My mother appeared on the screen.
Then Ben.
Then Daniel.
Then Sophia.
Everyone.
The video continued.
“But only one of them knows where the real money is.”
The screen went black.
A final line appeared.
TRUST NO ONE.
Then the lights in the room went out.
And from somewhere behind us…
May you like
Someone whispered:
“Too late.”
