Chapter 4 - THREE KNOCKSThe basement smelled like damp concrete.
Leo descended the stairs one step at a time.
“Mia?”
Three knocks answered.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Leo's pulse raced.
“Mia?”
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
He reached the bottom.
A bare bulb flickered overhead.
Boxes lined the walls.
Old furniture.
Rusty tools.
A washing machine that had not worked in years.
No Mia.
Leo turned.
“Where are you?”
Three knocks came from behind the wall.
Leo froze.
The sound was impossible.
There was no room behind that wall.
Marcus appeared at the top of the stairs.
“Come upstairs.”
Leo ignored him.
The knocking came again.
This time, he noticed dust falling from a panel.
There was a hidden door.
Leo pushed against it.
Nothing.
He pushed harder.
A piece of wood cracked.
Marcus rushed down the stairs.
“Stop!”
Leo looked at him.
“She's behind here.”
Marcus grabbed him.
“No!”
Leo screamed.
Marcus clamped a hand over his mouth.
Then something moved inside the wall.
Both men stopped.
A small voice whispered:
“Leo?”
Leo's eyes widened.
“Mia!”
Marcus released him.
Leo threw himself against the hidden panel.
“Mia! I'm here!”
“Leo!”
The voice was real.
Alive.
Terrified.
“Open it!”
Marcus stared at the wall.
“Stay back.”
Leo turned.
“What?”
Marcus reached into his jacket.
He pulled out a key.
Leo watched in confusion as he inserted it into a hidden lock.
The panel opened.
Mia sat inside a narrow space between two walls.
Her face was dirty.
Her hair was tangled.
Her wrists were red.
Leo screamed.
“Mia!”
She ran into his arms.
He held her so tightly she cried.
“You came back.”
“I promised.”
Marcus closed the door behind them.
The hidden room was larger than Leo had expected.
There was a chair.
A mattress.
A lamp.
A camera in the corner.
Leo saw it.
Someone had been watching Mia.
He turned toward Marcus.
“What is this place?”
Marcus did not answer.
Mia buried her face in Leo's chest.
“Don't let him take me again.”
Leo's entire body went rigid.
“Take you where?”
Mia whispered:
“The room under the floor.”
Marcus suddenly looked furious.
“Mia.”
She flinched.
Leo stepped between them.
“Don't talk to her.”
Marcus stared at him.
Then his phone rang.
He answered.
A man's voice said:
“Have they remembered?”
Marcus looked at Leo.
“No.”
“Then start with the mother.”
Marcus's face changed.
“What mother?”
The voice laughed.
“His.”
Leo stopped breathing.
Marcus ended the call.
“What did he mean?”
Marcus didn't answer.
Leo grabbed his jacket.
“What did he mean?”
Marcus shoved him away.
“Get upstairs.”
“No.”
Leo looked at Mia.
“Who is our mother?”
Mia began to cry.
Marcus's silence said more than any answer.
Then footsteps sounded above them.
Someone was inside the house.
Marcus immediately drew his gun.
Leo pushed Mia behind the mattress.
The footsteps crossed the floor.
Slow.
Heavy.
Deliberate.
Then came a knock on the hidden panel.
Three times.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Marcus aimed his gun at the door.
A voice came through the wall.
“Marcus.”
Marcus lowered the weapon slightly.
He knew the voice.
Leo could tell.
“Who is it?”
The voice answered:
“Someone who knows what you did.”
Marcus looked at Leo.
May you like
And whispered:
“Sarah.”
