Chapter 2 - The Children Were Never Guests
Thomas lifted Rebecca into his arms.
“What did you see?”
Rebecca looked toward the house again.
“A yellow envelope.”
“What was written on it?”
She hesitated.
“Samuel and Jacob’s names.”
Robert stepped forward.
“She was trespassing in my private office.”
Thomas looked at him slowly.
“She is ten years old.”
“She was going through my desk.”
“I was looking for the bathroom,” Rebecca said.
Helen folded her arms.
“The downstairs bathroom was clearly marked.”
“The door was locked.”
Thomas looked at Rebecca.
“Which door?”
“The bathroom near the kitchen.”
Mrs. Alvarez, the caterer, turned toward Helen.
“You told my staff not to let the children use the guest bathroom.”
Helen’s eyes narrowed.
“This does not concern you.”
Mrs. Alvarez did not move.
“It concerned me when your grandson asked one of my servers for bread and your daughter-in-law slapped it out of his hand.”
Thomas turned sharply.
“Who did that?”
Mrs. Alvarez pointed toward Aunt Denise.
Denise stood near the champagne table.
Her face drained of color.
“It was not a slap.”
Samuel spoke without looking at her.
“You hit my hand.”
Denise glanced around at the guests.
“He was reaching for food before the toast.”
Thomas carried Rebecca toward the house.
“Samuel and Jacob, stay beside me.”
Robert blocked the stone path.
“You are not entering my office.”
Thomas stopped inches from him.
“This house has not legally been yours for five years.”
The guests went silent again.
Robert’s eyes flickered.
Thomas continued walking.
Helen hurried after him.
“You promised never to embarrass us with that arrangement.”
Thomas glanced back.
“You promised my children would be safe here.”
Inside the mansion, the air was cool and quiet.
The sounds of the garden disappeared behind the closed doors.
Jacob pointed toward the service hallway.
“They made us wait there.”
Thomas followed him.
At the end of the hallway stood a narrow pantry.
The door had a latch on the outside.
Samuel’s breathing changed.
Thomas noticed immediately.
“Were you locked in there?”
Samuel did not answer.
Rebecca did.
“Grandma locked us inside when the first guests arrived.”
Thomas reached for the latch.
Helen grabbed his wrist.
“They were running around.”
Thomas removed her hand.
He opened the pantry.
Three small folding chairs had been placed against the wall.
A plastic pitcher of warm water sat on the floor.
Beside it were three paper signs.
REBECCA — PLATES.
SAMUEL — DRINKS.
JACOB — CLEANING.
Thomas stared at the signs.
Mrs. Alvarez entered behind them.
She covered her mouth.
Jacob pointed toward the corner.
“That’s where they put our food.”
Thomas looked down.
Three sandwiches sat inside a trash bag.
Each one had been crushed beneath empty wine bottles.
Rebecca’s lower lip trembled.
“Cole stepped on them.”
Thomas turned toward the hallway.
Cole was standing in the doorway with his phone in his hand.
“I didn’t know they were still in the bag.”
Samuel finally looked at him.
“You looked at me when you did it.”
Cole backed away.
Thomas noticed something glowing on Cole’s phone screen.
A progress bar was moving across it.
Thomas took one step forward.
May you like
“What are you deleting?”
Cole ran.
