Chapter 5 - Grace’s Last VideoEthan couldn't breathe.
Grace's name glowed on his screen.
For a moment, he wondered whether grief had finally broken something inside his mind.
Then Tom called.
“Sir?”
“Tell me you sent that message.”
“I didn't.”
“Someone is spoofing the number.”
Tom was silent.
“Can you trace it?”
“Yes.”
Ethan waited.
Thirty seconds.
One minute.
Then Tom spoke.
“Sir, the message came from inside the mansion.”
Ethan slowly looked up.
“Where?”
“Basement level.”
“There is no basement level.”
“I know.”
Ethan frowned.
“Explain.”
“Your house plans show two underground levels.”
“There's only one.”
“No, sir.”
Tom sounded genuinely disturbed.
“There are two.”
Ethan stared at the floor.
A mansion he had owned for six years.
A house he had renovated personally.
A house that apparently contained an entire hidden floor.
He turned toward Claire.
“You knew.”
She shook her head.
“Not everything.”
“But you knew about the basement.”
“I knew there was a room.”
“Who used it?”
Claire looked at him.
“Your father.”
Ethan felt sick.
“My father died before this house was built.”
“He didn't build it.”
“Then who did?”
Claire whispered,
“Your mother.”
Silence.
Ethan remembered his mother never wanting to discuss the property.
She had always told him one thing.
Never go below the wine cellar.
He had assumed it was sentimental superstition.
Now he wasn't so sure.
Ethan walked toward the wine cellar.
Claire followed.
Maria stayed with Ellie.
“Don't go,” Claire said.
Ethan stopped.
“Why?”
“Because if he's there…”
“Who?”
She didn't answer.
He opened the cellar door.
A staircase descended beyond the shelves.
He had never seen it.
His pulse accelerated.
At the bottom was a steel door.
No handle.
Only a keypad.
Ethan entered his birth date.
Nothing.
He entered his father's birthday.
Nothing.
Then Claire stepped forward.
She entered six numbers.
The door opened.
Ethan stared at her.
“You said you didn't know everything.”
“I don't.”
She looked at him.
“But I knew that.”
The room beyond was dark.
Then the lights flickered on.
Shelves filled with files.
Medical records.
Photographs.
Invoices.
Names.
Ethan walked toward a desk.
On it was a laptop.
The screen was already open.
A single folder waited.
GRACE.
His hands trembled as he clicked it.
A video appeared.
Grace sat in front of the camera.
Her eyes were red.
She looked exhausted.
“Ethan,” she said.
He froze.
“If you're watching this, then I'm probably dead.”
Claire covered her mouth.
Grace continued.
“I need you to understand something.”
She leaned closer.
“The person trying to hurt you isn't doing it because they want your money.”
Ethan stared at the screen.
“They want you alive.”
His heart stopped.
“Because you are the only person who can unlock your father's records.”
The video cut to static.
Then resumed.
Grace was crying.
“Ethan, don't trust Claire.”
He turned toward Claire.
She closed her eyes.
Grace continued.
“She isn't your enemy.”
Ethan's expression changed.
“But she's afraid of someone.”
A sound came from the hallway.
Someone was walking toward them.
Grace's final words came through the speakers.
“Find Daniel's brother.”
The screen went black.
Then a new message appeared.
HE ISN'T DEAD.
Ethan turned.
Claire whispered,
“That's impossible.”
A man stood in the doorway.
Older.
Scarred.
Holding a gun.
May you like
And Ethan recognized him.
Daniel Alvarez’s face stared back at him.
