Chapter 3: The Key Anna Left Behind
The silver key was so small I almost missed it.
Lily's fingers were curled tightly around it, even in sleep.
Two letters were engraved across the metal.
A.C.
My heart pounded.
Anna's initials were A.C.
Anna Carter.
For years, she had worn a tiny silver necklace with the same initials.
But this wasn't her necklace.
This was a key.
I looked toward the hospital door.
Nobody was there.
I looked at Lily.
Then at my phone.
The unknown number had sent another message.
Don't ask her while she's awake.
My blood ran cold.
Whoever was texting me knew Lily was asleep.
They knew where I was.
They knew what I was holding.
I immediately called Detective Collins.
She answered.
“Daniel?”
“I found something.”
“What?”
“A key.”
There was a pause.
“Where?”
“In Lily's hand.”
“Don't touch it.”
“I already did.”
“Put it down.”
I carefully placed the key inside a clean tissue.
“It's engraved with Anna's initials.”
Collins became silent.
Then she said:
“Did Lily tell you where it came from?”
“No.”
“Then don't wake her.”
“Why?”
“Because whoever gave her that key may have expected you to find it tonight.”
I stared at the sleeping child.
“You think someone planted it?”
“I think we need to assume everything is possible.”
I looked at the security camera above the door.
“Detective, what if someone is watching this room?”
“They probably are.”
My stomach dropped.
“What?”
“We found evidence that someone accessed the hospital's internal camera network.”
“Again?”
“Yes.”
“Can you see who?”
“Not yet.”
I lowered my voice.
“What about the woman who tried to enter Lily's room?”
“Security is reviewing the footage.”
“Did they catch her?”
“No.”
I clenched my jaw.
“How does someone just disappear from a hospital?”
“She didn't disappear.”
“What?”
“She used the stairwell.”
“So?”
“The stairwell leads to the basement parking garage.”
I remembered what Collins had just told me.
Thomas Reed was dead in the parking garage.
The same garage.
The same hospital.
The same night.
I felt sick.
“Detective…”
“I know.”
“Do you think she killed him?”
“We don't know.”
“But she was there.”
“We're working on it.”
Then Collins said something that made my blood freeze.
“Daniel, we found the woman's real identity.”
I waited.
“Her name isn't Rachel Morgan.”
“Who is she?”
“She worked for Anna.”
I closed my eyes.
“Everyone seems to have worked for my wife.”
“She wasn't an employee.”
“Then what?”
“She was Anna's private investigator.”
My eyes opened.
“What?”
“Anna hired her six months before she died.”
“Why?”
“We don't know.”
“Did Anna know she was investigating someone?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
Silence.
“Detective?”
“We found a file in Thomas Reed's apartment.”
“What file?”
“Anna's.”
My heartbeat accelerated.
“What was inside?”
“Photographs.”
“Of who?”
“You.”
I stopped.
“Me?”
“Yes.”
“How many?”
“Thirty-seven.”
I couldn't speak.
Thirty-seven photographs of me.
Leaving work.
Picking up Lily.
Going to the grocery store.
Driving Anna to appointments.
Standing outside our house.
Even sleeping in my car one night.
Someone had been watching me.
For months.
Then Collins said:
“There was one photograph taken the day before Anna died.”
“What did it show?”
“You standing outside the hospital.”
I frowned.
“I wasn't at the hospital the day before Anna died.”
“I know.”
My stomach tightened.
“Then who was in the photograph?”
“That's the problem.”
I waited.
“The man standing beside you wasn't you.”
My blood turned to ice.
“What?”
“He looked like you from a distance.”
“Who?”
“We don't know yet.”
I stared at the floor.
My entire body felt numb.
Someone had been impersonating me.
Before Anna died.
Maybe even before that.
“Send me the photograph.”
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“It's evidence.”
“Detective, my wife died under suspicious circumstances, my daughter was poisoned today, my brother may be involved, and someone has been impersonating me. I think I deserve to see it.”
Silence.
Then:
“I'll send you one frame.”
My phone vibrated.
A photograph appeared.
I opened it.
There I was.
Standing outside the hospital.
Except I wasn't me.
The man had my height.
My build.
My dark hair.
Even the same black jacket I owned.
But his face was turned away.
Then I noticed something.
A watch.
A silver watch on his wrist.
I looked down at my own wrist.
I wore a black digital watch.
Anna had given it to me after Lily was born.
The man in the photograph wore a silver watch.
And beneath the sleeve of his jacket was a tattoo.
Three black dots.
I had seen that tattoo before.
My mind raced.
Where?
Then I remembered.
Michael.
He had three tiny black dots tattooed behind his right wrist.
I nearly dropped the phone.
“Detective.”
“I'm here.”
“I know who the man is.”
“Who?”
“My brother.”
Silence.
Then Collins said:
“Daniel, don't confront him.”
“I won't.”
“Promise me.”
“I promise.”
The hospital door suddenly opened.
A doctor stepped inside.
“Mr. Carter?”
I stood.
“Yes?”
“I need to speak with you.”
“About Lily?”
“Yes.”
My heart stopped.
“What happened?”
The doctor glanced at the monitor.
“Her oxygen levels dropped briefly.”
“What?”
“She stabilized.”
I rushed to Lily.
“Why didn't you call me?”
“We were monitoring her.”
“Is she okay?”
“For now.”
The doctor hesitated.
“There's something strange.”
“What?”
“Her bloodwork shows traces of a sedative.”
I stared at him.
“She was poisoned?”
“No.”
“The sedative wasn't part of our treatment.”
I felt the room tilt.
“Then where did it come from?”
“We don't know.”
Detective Collins' words echoed in my head.
Don't touch anything.
Someone had entered the room.
Someone had access to Lily.
Someone had drugged my daughter.
And the person who did it might still be inside the hospital.
I looked toward the door.
The doctor noticed.
“What is it?”
“Lock it.”
“Excuse me?”
“Lock the door.”
He hesitated.
“Mr. Carter…”
“Lock it.”
He finally closed it.
I pulled the chair against the handle.
Then Lily moved.
Her eyes opened.
“Daddy?”
I grabbed her hand.
“I'm here.”
She looked at me.
Then at the doctor.
Then back at me.
“Daddy…”
“Yes?”
“Mommy told me never to give the key to Uncle Michael.”
My heart stopped.
“Lily…”
She looked frightened.
“Mommy gave it to me.”
“When?”
“Before she went to the hospital.”
I couldn't breathe.
“What did she tell you?”
Lily's lips trembled.
“She said if Uncle Michael ever asked about it…”
She paused.
“What?”
“She said I should tell him I lost it.”
I looked at the silver key.
Then at Lily.
“Where did Mommy tell you it opens?”
Lily shook her head.
“She didn't tell me.”
“Then how do you know?”
She whispered:
“Because Mommy showed me.”
My heart pounded.
“Showed you what?”
Lily looked toward the hospital window.
“A red door.”
I frowned.
“What red door?”
She closed her eyes.
“The one under our house.”
I stared at her.
“We don't have a red door.”
“Yes, we do.”
“No, Lily.”
She shook her head.
“Daddy…”
Her voice became almost inaudible.
“It's behind the wall in Mommy's old office.”
My blood went cold.
Anna's old office had been sealed since the day she died.
I had never entered it again.
Not once.
Because I couldn't bear it.
Lily squeezed my hand.
“Mommy said there was something inside.”
“What?”
“A box.”
“What kind of box?”
“I don't know.”
She opened her eyes.
“But Mommy said it had enough proof to save us.”
The hospital lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then went dark.
The monitor beside Lily went black.
I heard a click from the hallway.
The door handle began to turn.
Someone was trying to get inside.
I stood between the door and Lily.
“Who's there?”
No answer.
The handle turned again.
Then a man's voice came through the door.
Calm.
Familiar.
“Daniel?”
My blood froze.
Michael.
“Open the door.”
I didn't move.
He knocked softly.
“Daniel, we need to talk.”
I looked at Lily.
She was trembling.
Then she whispered something that made my heart stop.
“Daddy…”
“What?”
“That isn't Uncle Michael.”
The knocking stopped.
Lily stared at the door.
“Mommy told me his voice would sound exactly like Uncle Michael.”
Three seconds of silence.
Then the man outside whispered:
“Lily…”
And I realized the person standing outside the hospital room wasn't trying to get in.
He already knew exactly what was inside.
The key.
The secret.
And my daughter.
Then the lights came back on.
The hallway was empty.
But on the floor outside our door was a single photograph.
I picked it up.
It showed Anna.
Holding Lily.
Standing beside a red door.
May you like
On the back, someone had written four words:
SHE NEVER DIED ALONE.
