Chapter 2 - The Hidden Room
Everyone went silent.
The ringing came again.
Muffled.
Electronic.
Somewhere behind the concrete wall.
Officer Davis looked at Claire.
“What phone?”
Claire shook her head.
“It isn’t mine.”
Julian spoke from the stairs.
“She’s confused. She hasn’t slept.”
Claire snapped her head toward him.
“I know exactly what I heard.”
Davis motioned to another officer.
“Take Mercer upstairs.”
Julian pulled away.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
The officer gripped his arm.
“You are now.”
Julian’s eyes stayed on Claire.
“You should think very carefully before you talk.”
Marcus stepped between them.
“She’s done thinking about you.”
Julian smiled again.
Then they led him upstairs.
Claire hugged Lily tighter.
Marcus noticed her hands shaking.
“What happened?”
Claire looked at her daughter.
“Not in front of Lily.”
Davis nodded toward a female officer.
“Officer Grant can take her upstairs.”
Lily immediately clung to Claire’s sweater.
“No.”
“It’s okay,” Claire whispered.
“No, Mommy.”
“Sweetheart, Uncle Marcus is staying with me.”
Lily looked at Marcus.
“You promise?”
“I promise.”
After Lily left, Claire stared at the basement wall.
“Three nights ago, I followed Julian down here.”
“Why?”
“He told me the basement was flooded.”
Marcus frowned.
“But it’s dry.”
“I know.”
Claire stood carefully.
Her legs nearly gave out.
Marcus caught her.
“You don’t need to do this right now.”
“Yes, I do.”
She walked toward a metal storage shelf.
“There.”
Davis followed her.
“What?”
Claire pointed at the floor.
“The shelf moves.”
Marcus grabbed one side.
Davis took the other.
They pulled.
The shelf scraped across the floor.
Behind it was a narrow door painted the same gray as the wall.
No handle.
Only a small electronic keypad.
The hidden phone stopped ringing.
Marcus stared.
“What the hell?”
Claire rubbed her arms.
“I saw Julian enter a code.”
“Do you remember it?”
“I saw four numbers.”
Davis pulled gloves on.
“Don’t touch the keypad.”
Claire stepped closer.
“Eight. One. Two. Six.”
Marcus looked at her.
“December twenty-sixth?”
“Our anniversary.”
Davis entered the code.
A soft beep.
The door unlocked.
Marcus almost laughed.
“Arrogant bastard.”
Davis opened it.
The room beyond was small but clean.
Too clean.
A desk.
Two monitors.
Three hard drives.
Stacks of folders.
A printer.
A locked cabinet.
And a camera system.
Marcus walked toward the monitors.
One screen showed live feeds from the entire house.
Kitchen.
Living room.
Lily’s bedroom.
Claire’s bedroom.
Even the bathroom hallway.
Claire looked sick.
“He was watching us.”
Davis said nothing.
He was staring at the second monitor.
Dozens of video files filled the screen.
Dates.
Times.
Names.
Marcus leaned closer.
Some files were labeled with Claire’s name.
Others had names he didn’t recognize.
Davis called upstairs.
“Get crime scene down here now.”
Claire opened one folder.
Bank records.
Property transfers.
Insurance policies.
A life insurance policy with Claire’s name at the top.
Marcus read the number.
Five million dollars.
His stomach tightened.
“Claire.”
She already saw it.
She backed away from the desk.
“He changed the policy.”
“When?”
She scanned the date.
“Two months ago.”
Davis opened another folder.
Inside were printed emails.
Most looked like business messages.
Then one sentence caught Marcus’s eye.
Phase Three only works if she appears unstable first.
He read it twice.
“What does that mean?”
Claire’s face drained of color.
“Julian has been telling people I’m depressed.”
Marcus looked at her.
“What?”
“He told my friends I was having breakdowns. He told Lily’s school I was emotionally unstable.”
Davis flipped the page.
Another message.
Make sure the medication is traceable to her prescription.
Marcus felt his chest tighten.
“What medication?”
Claire covered her mouth.
“I don’t take anything.”
A sound came from behind them.
A drawer sliding open.
Officer Grant had returned.
“I found this in the cabinet.”
She held up a plastic evidence bag.
Inside were prescription bottles.
Every label had Claire’s name.
Claire stared.
“I’ve never seen those before.”
Davis picked up one bottle with gloved hands.
“Sedatives.”
Marcus turned toward the stairs.
“I’m going to kill him.”
Claire grabbed his arm.
“No.”
“He drugged you.”
“I need him alive.”
Marcus stared at her.
Claire’s voice hardened.
“Because I need him to explain who helped him.”
Davis stopped flipping through the files.
“What makes you think someone helped him?”
Claire walked to the desk.
She pulled one photograph from underneath a folder.
Marcus recognized the man instantly.
Their father.
Samuel Reed.
Dead for eleven years.
Marcus stared at the photograph.
“What is Dad doing here?”
Claire turned it over.
There were five words written on the back.
YOUR FATHER DIDN’T DIE ALONE.
Then Officer Davis found a second photograph.
May you like
In it, Julian was standing beside Samuel Reed.
The date stamped in the corner was three days before Samuel died.
