Chapter 8: The Man on the Intercom
Static hissed through the mansion.
Then silence.
No one moved.
Every servant.
Every guard.
Every guest.
Every pair of eyes turned toward the ceiling speakers.
The calm male voice returned.
"Good evening, Mrs. Hawthorne."
"Mr. Hawthorne."
"Detective Collins."
The detective's expression hardened.
He had never introduced himself.
Yet the man knew his name.
The voice chuckled softly.
"Please don't look so surprised."
"I make it my business to know everyone."
Daniel stepped toward the intercom panel.
"Who are you?"
A brief pause.
Then...
"A businessman."
Victoria whispered,
"No..."
Daniel looked at her.
"You know him."
She shook her head.
"I've never seen his face."
"But..."
"I know his voice."
The detective immediately signaled one of the technicians.
"Trace the signal."
The technician hurried toward the security room.
"If he's transmitting through the estate system, we might locate him."
The voice laughed.
"Go ahead."
"You'll enjoy what you find."
Daniel's patience snapped.
"If you want Victoria..."
"Come and take her yourself."
The response came almost instantly.
"I already have."
The room fell silent.
Daniel frowned.
"What does that mean?"
No answer.
A security guard suddenly sprinted into the living room.
"Sir!"
"The east wing!"
Daniel turned.
"What about it?"
"Victoria..."
"...isn't there."
Everyone looked toward the chair where she had been standing.
It was empty.
Daniel's heart lurched.
"When did she leave?"
No one knew.
In the confusion caused by the intercom, she had disappeared.
Claire stepped back instinctively.
"She ran."
Eleanor wasn't convinced.
"No."
Daniel looked at his mother.
"Why not?"
"Because frightened people run toward exits."
"Not deeper into danger."
The detective pressed his radio.
"Lock every interior corridor."
"No one leaves the property."
The replies came quickly.
"Yes, sir."
Meanwhile...
Victoria stumbled through a dim service hallway beneath the mansion.
She wasn't trying to escape.
She was following a memory.
Twenty years ago, Robert Hayes had drilled one lesson into her mind.
"If they ever find us..."
"Never stay where they expect you."
She hated that those words still echoed inside her head.
She reached an old wine cellar beneath the estate.
Dark.
Cold.
Dust covered the forgotten shelves.
She leaned against the stone wall, struggling to steady her breathing.
"I know you're here," she whispered.
Silence.
Then...
Slow applause echoed through the darkness.
One clap.
Then another.
Then another.
A figure emerged from the shadows.
Black suit.
Black gloves.
His face hidden behind a matte charcoal mask.
Only his eyes were visible.
Sharp.
Patient.
Amused.
Victoria took one step backward.
"No..."
The man tilted his head.
"You've grown."
His voice matched the one from the intercom perfectly.
Upstairs...
The technician shouted from the security room.
"I found the source!"
Detective Collins rushed over.
"Where?"
The technician stared at the monitor.
His face went pale.
"It isn't outside."
"Then where?"
"It's..."
"...inside the mansion."
Daniel's pulse quickened.
"Can you narrow it down?"
The technician typed rapidly.
The estate blueprint appeared on the screen.
A blinking red dot flashed beneath the west wing.
"The underground cellar."
Daniel didn't hesitate.
"I'm going."
Detective Collins grabbed his shoulder.
"No."
"We go together."
Eleanor nodded.
"And take four guards."
Back in the cellar...
Victoria stared at the masked man.
"You're supposed to be dead."
He smiled beneath the mask.
"People have been saying that about many of us recently."
She swallowed.
"What do you want?"
He took another step forward.
"The ledger."
Her brow furrowed.
"My father never gave it to me."
"I know."
"So why come here?"
The man's smile widened.
"Because I don't believe you."
Victoria's eyes darted toward the staircase.
Too far.
She would never outrun him.
The masked man seemed to read her thoughts.
"Don't."
"There are three snipers outside."
"If you run..."
"They shoot."
She forced herself to remain calm.
"My father is dead."
"Yes."
"You killed him."
The man shrugged.
"He became expensive."
Those four words chilled her more than the confession itself.
To him...
Murder was accounting.
Nothing more.
The masked man removed a folded piece of paper from his pocket.
He tossed it onto a dusty barrel.
Victoria looked down.
It was an old photograph.
One she had never seen before.
It showed her as a little girl.
Standing beside Robert Hayes.
And another man.
The man's face had been torn away.
Only one hand remained visible.
On the ring finger...
A distinctive silver signet ring engraved with the image of a raven.
Victoria frowned.
"Who is he?"
The masked man answered quietly.
"Your father's first mistake."
Upstairs...
Daniel and Detective Collins reached the heavy cellar door.
One guard whispered,
"I hear voices."
Daniel placed his hand on the handle.
Collins stopped him.
"We don't know how many are inside."
Daniel looked him in the eye.
"The woman I loved is in there."
Collins answered,
"Then don't make her your last mistake."
Inside...
Victoria took another careful breath.
"I don't have the ledger."
The masked man stepped closer.
"I know."
"Then why am I here?"
"Because you have something far more valuable."
She frowned.
"What?"
He leaned close enough that only she could hear.
"You have Robert Hayes's memory."
She stared at him.
"I don't understand."
"You watched."
"You listened."
"You survived."
He smiled again.
"That means somewhere inside your head..."
"...is the one thing we still need."
Victoria shook her head.
"I remember nothing."
"Liar."
Before she could answer...
A loud metallic crash echoed through the cellar.
The heavy steel door burst inward.
Detective Collins led the entry team.
"Police!"
"Don't move!"
The masked man didn't flinch.
Instead...
He looked directly at Daniel.
"So."
"The fiancé."
Daniel stepped forward.
"Stay away from her."
The masked man laughed softly.
"I already did."
He pressed a small button hidden inside his glove.
A sharp beep echoed through the cellar.
Collins' eyes widened.
"Everyone down!"
An explosion rocked the far end of the wine cellar.
Stone and dust erupted into the air.
The floor cracked beneath Daniel's feet.
Victoria screamed as the ancient foundation gave way.
Daniel lunged toward her just as the ground collapsed.
Both of them disappeared into the darkness below.
The last thing Detective Collins saw before the dust swallowed everything...
Was the masked man calmly walking away through the smoke.
And on the broken stone floor where he had been standing...
He had left behind a single black playing card.
On its face was a silver raven.
And beneath it, written in elegant handwriting, were five chilling words:
May you like
"Phase Six has officially begun."
End of Chapter 8
