Chapter 2: The Man in the Hallway
Nobody moved.
For several seconds, the dining room remained frozen beneath the chandelier.
Helen stood beside the table, one hand pressed against the cut on her cheek.
Robert stared at me.
Ethan stared at Robert.
And Lily held onto my hand so tightly that her fingernails dug into my skin.
I couldn't look away from Robert.
“Where were you?”
He swallowed.
“What?”
“The night my wife died.”
The color drained from his face.
Helen immediately stepped between us.
“That's enough.”
I didn't move.
“Where were you, Robert?”
He glanced at Helen.
That tiny movement told me more than his words ever could.
Helen noticed it too.
Her expression changed.
“Robert?”
He looked back at me.
“You're crazy.”
“Maybe.”
I stepped closer.
“But you didn't answer.”
Robert's jaw tightened.
“I was at home.”
“Alone?”
“Yes.”
“That's interesting.”
His eyes narrowed.
“What's interesting?”
I pulled out my phone and opened the photograph.
I turned the screen toward him.
His face changed instantly.
Not confusion.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
He knew the picture.
More importantly, he knew the person who had taken it.
Lily tugged my sleeve.
“Daddy.”
I looked down.
She was staring at Robert.
“He's lying.”
The room went silent again.
Robert crouched slightly.
“Lily, sweetheart, you don't know what you're talking about.”
Lily backed away.
“You're the man Mommy was scared of.”
Robert froze.
Helen's face turned white.
I looked at her.
“You knew?”
She shook her head too quickly.
“No.”
“You knew.”
“I didn't know anything!”
“Then why are you afraid?”
Helen's mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
I suddenly heard footsteps upstairs.
One.
Two.
Three.
Slow.
Heavy.
Everyone looked toward the staircase.
Ethan whispered, “Is someone up there?”
Robert's face became rigid.
I moved in front of Lily.
“Stay behind me.”
Another step.
Then silence.
I grabbed the fireplace poker.
Robert immediately raised his hands.
“Put that down.”
“Why?”
“Because whoever is upstairs could be armed.”
I looked at him.
“How would you know?”
He said nothing.
There it was.
Another crack in the wall of lies.
I started toward the stairs.
Robert grabbed my arm.
“Don't.”
I shoved him away.
“Get your hands off me.”
“Listen to me.”
“No. You listen.”
I pointed toward Lily.
“She has been afraid in this house for years.”
Then I pointed toward the staircase.
“My wife died three years ago.”
Finally, I pointed at Robert.
“And somehow you know exactly what's happening tonight.”
Robert's eyes hardened.
“You have no idea what you're getting yourself into.”
“Then explain it.”
He didn't.
Instead, he looked at Helen.
That was when I realized something.
They weren't simply afraid of me.
They were afraid of each other.
Helen whispered, “Robert…”
He shook his head.
“Not here.”
I heard every word.
“Not here?”
Robert turned toward me.
“There's something you need to know.”
Helen suddenly screamed.
“NO!”
She lunged toward him.
Robert pushed her away.
And in that instant, someone upstairs slammed a door.
BANG!
Lily screamed.
I ran up the stairs.
“Daddy!”
I reached the second floor.
The hallway was dark.
Every bedroom door was closed.
Except Lily's.
It stood open.
I rushed inside.
Her bed was empty.
My heart stopped.
“Lily!”
I turned around.
She was standing behind me.
I grabbed her and pulled her into my arms.
“Don't ever do that again.”
She was shaking.
“I didn't leave.”
“What?”
She pointed toward the window.
“Someone took me.”
I stared at her.
“What are you talking about?”
“I was sleeping.”
Her voice broke.
“Then someone picked me up.”
My blood ran cold.
“Who?”
“I couldn't see his face.”
“Where did he take you?”
Lily pointed beneath the bed.
“He put me there.”
I slowly crouched.
The space beneath the bed was dark.
I reached underneath.
My fingers touched something cold.
Metal.
I pulled it out.
A small silver key.
I stared at it.
There was something engraved on the handle.
A single letter.
M.
My wife's initial.
I turned toward Lily.
“Where did you get this?”
She shook her head.
“It was there.”
Then I noticed something else.
The bedroom window was open.
Rain blew through the curtains.
I walked toward it.
There were footprints on the wooden floor.
Wet footprints.
Leading from the window...
straight to Lily's bed.
But there was no trail going back.
I stared at the floor.
Whoever had come inside had left no footprints leaving.
Which meant one terrifying possibility.
He was still inside.
I slowly turned.
The closet door was slightly open.
I raised the fireplace poker.
“Who's in there?”
Nothing.
I stepped closer.
The door suddenly swung open.
I struck instinctively.
The poker slammed into the closet wall.
Empty.
I looked behind the clothes.
Nothing.
Then I noticed a small red light.
Blinking.
Attached beneath the shelf.
A camera.
Someone had installed a hidden camera inside Lily's bedroom.
I ripped it from the wall.
My phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
YOU FOUND ONE.
Another message appeared.
THERE ARE SIX MORE.
I stared at the screen.
Six.
More.
I slowly walked back downstairs.
Robert was waiting at the bottom.
His face was grim.
“Give me the phone.”
I didn't move.
“Why?”
“Because you're not the only one being watched.”
I stared at him.
“What does that mean?”
He lowered his voice.
“They've been watching this house for three years.”
My heart pounded.
“Who?”
Robert looked toward Helen.
Then Ethan.
Then Lily.
Finally, he looked directly at me.
“The people who killed your wife.”
Everything inside me went still.
Helen covered her mouth.
Ethan stepped backward.
I whispered, “My wife wasn't killed in an accident?”
Robert shook his head.
“No.”
“Then what happened?”
He looked toward the front door.
“We don't have much time.”
“Answer me.”
Robert's voice cracked.
“She discovered what your family had been hiding.”
I stared at him.
“My family?”
He nodded.
“Your father wasn't bankrupt.”
I felt the floor shift beneath me.
“What?”
Robert stepped closer.
“He didn't lose the company.”
“He gave it away.”
“To whom?”
Robert looked at Lily.
Then he whispered:
“To your wife.”
Before I could respond, the lights went out.
Complete darkness swallowed the house.
Helen screamed.
Ethan shouted.
Lily grabbed my waist.
Then came a sound from the front door.
Three slow knocks.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Nobody breathed.
A man's voice came through the darkness.
“Open the door.”
I knew that voice.
I had heard it once before.
Three years ago.
On the night my wife died.
And then the voice spoke again.
This time, it said my wife's name.
“Sarah.”
Lily suddenly began crying.
“He found us.”
May you like
I tightened my grip around her.
Then the front door slowly began to open by itself.
