Chapter 4 - THE MESSAGE IN THE MUSICThe mansion had become a fortress.
Security locked every entrance.
Guests were escorted into protected rooms.
Police were called.
But Victor refused to wait.
He returned to the piano.
Chloe stood beside him.
“What does playing it backwards mean?”
She shook her head.
“I don't know.”
“You said your mother taught you.”
“She taught me the song.”
Victor touched the keys.
“Then why warn me?”
“Because she told me the last part wasn't music.”
Victor stared.
“What was it?”
“A message.”
He examined the piano.
Nothing.
Chloe climbed onto the bench.
“Mom said the melody has twelve sections.”
Victor nodded.
“It's a composition.”
“No.”
She pointed at the sheet music.
“It's a code.”
Victor's eyes narrowed.
“Show me.”
Chloe began playing.
The first sequence.
Then another.
Victor noticed something.
Every time she stopped, a set of letters appeared in the handwritten margins.
R.
E.
D.
Victor frowned.
“Red.”
Chloe nodded.
She played the next section.
More letters.
“Ridge.”
Victor looked up.
“Red Ridge.”
Marcus searched the name.
A location appeared on his tablet.
An abandoned Blackwood manufacturing plant.
Closed seventeen years ago.
Victor felt a strange chill.
“Why would Amelia hide a message about that place?”
Richard appeared behind them.
“Because that's where she was taken.”
Victor turned.
“You knew?”
Richard nodded.
“I found the facility after she disappeared.”
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
“Because by the time I got there, it was empty.”
Richard's voice trembled.
“I found blood.”
Nora looked away.
Chloe suddenly asked:
“Did you find a red scarf?”
Richard froze.
Victor noticed.
“You did.”
Richard slowly nodded.
“Amelia's scarf.”
Chloe's eyes filled with tears.
“My mother wore one every winter.”
Richard stared at her.
“She survived.”
Chloe whispered:
“I know.”
Victor's chest tightened.
Richard continued.
“Someone had taken her from the plant.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
Victor slammed his fist against the table.
“Twenty years!”
His voice echoed.
“You knew enough to search!”
Richard shouted back.
“I did search!”
The room fell silent.
Richard's eyes were wet.
“I spent twenty years searching for her.”
Victor stared at him.
“Then why did you tell me she was dead?”
Richard looked at Chloe.
“Because someone threatened to kill her if I ever told you.”
Victor stepped closer.
“Who?”
Richard shook his head.
“I never saw his face.”
“Then how did he contact you?”
“Letters.”
“How many?”
“Twenty-three.”
Victor's blood went cold.
“Do you have them?”
Richard looked toward the fireplace.
“I burned them.”
Chloe suddenly whispered:
“No.”
Everyone looked at her.
She pointed toward the chimney.
“You only burned the ones he wanted you to burn.”
Richard froze.
Victor looked at the chimney.
Behind the soot-covered bricks was a metal box.
Inside were three letters.
The oldest was dated nineteen years ago.
Victor opened it.
One sentence.
YOUR BROTHER IS NOT THE TRAITOR.
Another letter.
YOUR FAMILY IS BEING CONTROLLED FROM INSIDE.
The third letter contained only a single photograph.
Victor stared at it.
A young Amelia stood beside a man.
The man was holding a newborn baby.
Victor recognized the baby.
Chloe.
But the man's face had been scratched away.
On the back of the photograph were five words.
HE IS STILL WATCHING YOU.
Suddenly Chloe gasped.
She stared toward the window.
“That's him.”
Victor spun around.
“Who?”
“The man in the picture.”
A shadow moved outside.
Marcus rushed to the window.
Too late.
The courtyard was empty.
May you like
But on the glass, written in red lipstick, were four words.
YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT.
