Chapter 7 - The Empty Beds
Kevin searched the room with frantic eyes.
The blankets had been pulled onto the floor.
One window stood open.
A rope hung over the ledge.
“No,” Kevin whispered.
Annie grabbed his arm.
“Look at the dust.”
Kevin stared at her.
“The rope is clean.”
She pointed toward the windowsill.
“The dust has not been disturbed.”
Kevin looked at the unconscious guard.
“Then where are they?”
A faint knocking came from inside the wall.
Annie crossed the room.
She pressed her ear against the panel beside Lauren’s wardrobe.
The knocking came again.
“Jordan?”
“Miss Annie?”
Kevin ripped open the wardrobe.
The back panel moved when Annie pressed the brass key into a hidden lock.
A narrow passage appeared.
Jordan and Justin were crouched inside.
Justin was crying silently.
Jordan held a small metal box.
Kevin dropped to his knees.
He pulled both boys against him.
This time, neither child moved away.
“Who brought you in here?” Kevin asked.
“Mommy showed us,” Jordan whispered.
“When?”
“Before the car.”
Kevin looked at Annie.
The children had remembered another fragment.
Justin pointed toward the unconscious guard.
“He came through the window.”
Kevin’s security chief inspected the man’s identification.
The badge was fake.
The unconscious intruder was not part of Kevin’s team.
A syringe lay beneath his sleeve.
Kevin’s anger became dangerously calm.
“Lock every employee inside the mansion.”
Margaret stood in the hallway.
“You cannot detain innocent people.”
Kevin looked at her.
“Then call the police.”
She did not.
Annie opened the metal box Jordan had carried from the passage.
Inside were financial records, a small voice recorder, and a sealed envelope.
The envelope had Kevin’s name written across the front.
His fingers trembled as he opened it.
The letter was dated two days before Lauren’s death.
Kevin,
Daniel has been moving company money for years.
Your mother knows enough to stop him, but she is afraid the truth will damage the Morrison name.
I tried to tell you three times.
Each time, you told me the quarter-end meetings could not wait.
Kevin lowered the letter.
He remembered those calls.
Lauren had sounded tense.
He had told her they would talk during the weekend.
The weekend had never come.
He forced himself to continue.
Daniel knows I copied the records.
He came to the house tonight.
He threatened to make you believe I was unstable.
He said he would use the boys’ behavior against me.
If something happens, do not let them convince you it was an accident.
Most importantly, do not disappear into work.
Jordan and Justin do not need perfection.
They need you to stay.
Kevin could no longer see the page clearly.
Justin touched his hand.
“Daddy?”
Kevin pulled both boys closer.
“I’m here.”
The words sounded strange in his mouth.
He repeated them.
“I’m here.”
Annie picked up the voice recorder.
A red light began blinking.
The device was already playing.
Lauren’s voice filled the room.
“Daniel, get out of my house.”
Then Daniel’s voice answered.
“You should have accepted the money.”
A second male voice spoke in the background.
“We have less than seventeen minutes before Kevin’s security system comes back online.”
May you like
Kevin recognized the second voice.
It belonged to Dr. Wallace.
