Chapter 6 - THE ROOM BEHIND THE WALL
Christopher moved faster than Marcus had ever seen him move.
“Check every room.”
The staff scattered.
Estelle remained in the hallway.
Christopher grabbed her arm.
“Where is she?”
Estelle pulled away.
“Take your hands off me.”
“Where is Emma?”
“I have no idea.”
“She said you were with her.”
“Children say strange things when they’re frightened.”
Christopher leaned closer.
“If she is hurt, there is nowhere on earth you can hide from me.”
For the first time, Estelle’s confidence cracked.
Not much.
Just enough.
Christopher saw it.
Then Yvette gasped.
“The old nursery.”
“What?”
“There’s a hidden service passage behind it.”
Estelle turned sharply.
Christopher caught the reaction.
“Show me.”
They ran upstairs.
The old nursery had been closed since Christopher was a child.
Yvette pushed aside a wooden cabinet.
Behind it was a narrow door.
Marcus forced it open.
A dark corridor stretched behind the wall.
Christopher stepped inside.
“Emma!”
A faint cry answered.
“Daddy!”
He ran toward it.
The passage turned twice, then opened into a small storage room.
Emma sat on the floor.
Alone.
Christopher rushed to her.
“Baby.”
She threw herself into his arms.
“I knew you’d come.”
He checked her arms, face, neck.
“Did anyone hurt you?”
She shook her head.
“Grandma brought me here.”
Christopher’s eyes met Marcus’s.
“What did she say?”
Emma looked toward the doorway.
“She said we were playing hide-and-seek.”
“Then what?”
“She told me I had to stay quiet.”
“Was anyone else here?”
Emma nodded.
“A man.”
“What man?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did he look like?”
“Gray jacket. Red tie.”
Marcus stiffened.
Christopher noticed.
“You know who that is.”
Marcus hesitated.
“Possibly.”
“Who?”
“Daniel Ross.”
Christopher stared at him.
The Pierce family attorney.
The same attorney who had approached Rachel when she was pregnant.
“What was Ross doing here?”
Emma pointed toward a small table.
“He gave Grandma papers.”
Christopher crossed the room.
Nothing remained except a torn corner of a document.
He picked it up.
Three words were still visible.
TRANSFER OF GUARDIANSHIP.
His stomach dropped.
Emma tugged his sleeve.
“Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“The man said something about you.”
“What?”
She frowned, trying to remember.
“He said after tonight, you couldn’t stop them.”
Christopher looked at Marcus.
“Find Ross.”
Then the entire mansion shook.
A deep boom came from downstairs.
The lights went out.
May you like
Emma screamed.
Seconds later, smoke started slipping beneath the storage-room door.
