Chapter 3 - THE THIRD FLOORHarper couldn't stop staring at the message.
YOU WERE NEVER THE TARGET.
Gabriel stood beneath it, motionless.
"Who wrote that?"
"Someone who knows this house."
"Could it be Derek?"
"No."
"How do you know?"
"Because Derek is afraid of this place."
Harper frowned.
"Why?"
Gabriel looked toward the staircase.
"Because eight years ago, a body was found beneath the third floor."
Harper stared at him.
"What body?"
"My brother's."
"But you said Michael disappeared."
"I lied."
Harper's stomach tightened.
"Why?"
"Because the police never found him."
"You said a body was found."
"A body was found."
He paused.
"It just wasn't Michael."
Harper felt the pieces of the puzzle shifting.
"Whose body?"
"An eight-year-old girl."
Harper's face went pale.
The girl in the photograph.
Gabriel's niece.
"No."
"Her name was Emma."
Harper looked at the picture again.
The resemblance she'd noticed earlier suddenly made sense.
"Why does she look familiar?"
Gabriel didn't answer.
Harper moved toward the staircase.
"What's on the third floor?"
Gabriel stepped in front of her.
"Nothing."
"Then why is it forbidden?"
"Because I said so."
Harper laughed bitterly.
"That's not an answer."
"No."
Gabriel looked at her.
"It's a warning."
Harper stared at him.
Then her phone rang.
No caller ID.
She answered.
Silence.
"Hello?"
A child's breathing came through the speaker.
Harper's eyes widened.
"Noah?"
Then a man's voice.
"Third floor."
The call ended.
Gabriel didn't need to say anything.
Harper was already moving.
She climbed the stairs.
Gabriel followed.
At the top was a locked door.
He pulled a key from his pocket.
Harper stared at him.
"You carry the key?"
"Always."
He unlocked it.
The door opened with a long creak.
The third floor smelled like dust and old wood.
There were no bedrooms.
No furniture.
Just a long corridor.
At the very end stood a single red door.
Harper walked toward it.
Gabriel grabbed her shoulder.
"Don't."
"Why?"
"Because that door was locked the night Emma disappeared."
"And?"
"It was locked from the inside."
Harper stared at him.
"Then how did the killer leave?"
Gabriel's face changed.
"We never figured that out."
Harper opened the door.
Inside was a child's bedroom.
Pink curtains.
A small bed.
A stuffed rabbit.
A music box.
Everything covered in dust.
Harper walked toward the bed.
There was a photograph on the pillow.
She picked it up.
It showed Emma.
But there was someone standing beside her.
A woman.
Harper recognized the woman immediately.
Victoria Kane.
She dropped the photograph.
Gabriel stared at it.
"No."
"You know her."
"Yes."
"She was here."
"When?"
"Before Emma disappeared."
Gabriel picked up the photograph.
His hand was shaking.
"Victoria told me she had never met Emma."
Harper looked around.
"She lied."
Then the music box began playing.
A soft melody.
Harper turned.
The music box was moving on its own.
Gabriel reached for it.
A hidden compartment popped open.
Inside was a small key.
And a note.
Gabriel unfolded it.
There were only five words.
ASK HARPER WHAT SHE REMEMBERS.
He looked at her.
"What does that mean?"
Harper's breathing became uneven.
"I don't know."
But suddenly a memory surfaced.
A hallway.
A little girl.
Red ribbon.
A woman screaming.
A door slamming.
Harper grabbed her head.
Gabriel caught her.
"Harper?"
"I've been here."
He froze.
"What?"
"I've been here before."
"Impossible."
She shook her head.
"I don't remember when."
A second memory hit.
A man holding a bloody knife.
A little girl crying.
And a voice whispering:
"Don't tell anyone."
Harper looked at Gabriel.
"I saw Emma."
Before he could respond, a gunshot exploded downstairs.
Then another.
Gabriel immediately pulled Harper behind the wall.
Men shouted.
Footsteps raced through the mansion.
Gabriel checked his weapon.
"They're inside."
"Who?"
He looked at her.
"Police."
Harper frowned.
"Why would police attack you?"
Gabriel's phone rang.
He answered.
A distorted voice spoke.
"Bring Harper downstairs."
Gabriel's eyes narrowed.
"Who are you?"
The caller laughed.
"You know me."
Gabriel's face turned white.
Then the voice said:
"Tell her the truth about her mother."
The call ended.
Harper stared at Gabriel.
"My mother?"
Gabriel said nothing.
Then a gunshot struck the third-floor door.
The bullet passed through the wood.
Harper screamed.
Gabriel grabbed her hand.
"Run."
And as they fled down the hallway, Harper finally understood the one thing nobody had told her.
Her life had not begun three years ago with Derek.
It had begun much earlier.
With Gabriel.
May you like
With Emma.
And with a secret her dead mother had taken to the grave.
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