Chapter 2 - THE LOCKED DOOR
Daniel carried Lily straight toward the basement stairs.
Vanessa jumped in front of him.
“Daniel, stop.”
He stared at her.
“Move.”
“There’s nothing down there.”
“Then moving shouldn’t be a problem.”
Margaret came quickly from behind.
“Daniel, you’re upset. You need to calm down.”
“My daughter just told me about a dark basement.”
“She’s a toddler.”
Daniel looked at his mother.
“That seems to be everyone’s favorite excuse tonight.”
Eric finally stood.
“Dan…”
Daniel turned sharply.
“Did you know?”
Eric swallowed.
“I knew Vanessa sometimes put Lily in time-out.”
“In the basement?”
“I didn’t know where.”
Daniel laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“You ate dinner in my house while my daughter cried?”
Eric looked away.
Daniel pushed open the basement door.
The stairs descended into darkness.
He flicked on the light.
Vanessa’s breathing changed.
Daniel noticed.
He carried Lily down.
At the bottom was his home gym, storage shelves, a laundry area and an old wine room Daniel rarely used.
Lily buried her face against his shoulder when they reached the hallway.
“Which one, sweetheart?”
She wouldn’t look.
Daniel pointed toward the gym.
“That one?”
She shook her head.
The storage room?
Another shake.
Then he pointed at the old wine-room door.
Lily whimpered.
“No dark.”
Daniel’s stomach twisted.
He walked toward it.
A small hook-and-eye latch had been installed high on the outside.
He stared at it.
He hadn’t put that there.
“Vanessa.”
She had followed him halfway down the stairs.
“What is this?”
“I don’t know.”
Daniel touched the latch.
“The screws are new.”
“I told the handyman to fix the door.”
“Why does a door need to lock from the outside?”
“It doesn’t lock. It’s just—”
Daniel opened it.
The room was barely six feet wide.
No windows.
No furniture.
Only concrete walls and a single overhead bulb.
On the floor sat a child’s plastic cup.
A tiny blanket.
And Lily’s stuffed rabbit.
Daniel went completely still.
“Bunny,” Lily whispered.
He stepped inside.
The room smelled stale.
His eyes moved over the floor.
Scratch marks were visible near the bottom of the door.
Daniel’s throat closed.
Lily had scratched them.
He knew because tiny pieces of pink nail polish were caught in the wood.
Daniel turned around.
Vanessa backed away.
“You put her in here?”
“It was time-out!”
“She’s two years old!”
“She screams! She throws food! She doesn’t listen!”
“She’s TWO!”
Margaret came down the stairs.
“It was never more than a few minutes.”
Daniel stared at her.
“You knew about this too?”
His mother folded her arms.
“I suggested it.”
The room seemed to tilt.
Daniel’s voice went flat.
“You suggested locking my daughter in a dark room.”
“She needed consequences.”
“You mean punishment.”
“She needed to understand who was in charge.”
Daniel stared at the woman who had raised him.
For the first time in his life, he saw a stranger.
Behind Margaret, Eric muttered, “Mom, maybe you should stop talking.”
Margaret snapped, “Stay out of this.”
Daniel took Lily upstairs.
He locked himself and his daughter inside the master bedroom.
Then he called the police.
Vanessa screamed through the door.
“You’re calling the police on your own family?”
Daniel replied without opening it.
“No.”
He looked at Lily.
“I’m calling them on the people who hurt my child.”
Twenty minutes later, flashing lights filled the driveway.
Two officers entered.
Then a female detective arrived.
Detective Sarah Mills.
She spoke gently to Daniel, photographed Lily’s torn dress and injuries, then went downstairs.
Ten minutes later, Sarah returned carrying something in a clear evidence bag.
A small black camera.
Daniel stared at it.
“Where did you find that?”
“In the wine room.”
Vanessa stopped breathing.
Sarah looked directly at her.
“It was recording.”
Daniel felt his knees nearly give out.
But Sarah wasn’t finished.
“There’s a memory card inside.”
May you like
She held up the camera.
“And based on the timestamp, it’s been recording for months.”
