Chapter 2 - THE DOOR BEHIND THE LAUNDRY ROOM
Vanessa caught Daniel’s arm before he reached the hallway.
“Don’t do this.”
He looked at her fingers.
“Let go.”
“You’re scaring everyone.”
From somewhere beyond the laundry room came another bang.
Daniel pulled free.
“Lily, stay beside me.”
His daughter grabbed the back of his shirt with both hands. He could feel her trembling through the fabric.
Behind them, chairs scraped. Nobody followed.
The storage room stood at the far end of the hallway, beyond a narrow bend Daniel rarely used. His father had kept old furniture and business files there. Since his death three years earlier, the room had become another place Daniel paid someone else to maintain.
The brass key slid into the old lock.
Behind him, Vanessa whispered, “Daniel. Please.”
He turned it.
The lock clicked, but the door opened barely an inch.
Something blocked it from inside.
“Claire?”
A scraping sound answered.
Then a voice so weak he almost missed it.
“Here.”
Daniel pushed his shoulder against the wood.
“Move away from the door.”
He pushed again. A fallen chair dragged across the floor.
On the third attempt, the opening widened enough for him to squeeze through.
Claire sat against a stack of boxes, her wrists secured behind her. One shoe was missing. Her hair stuck to her damp forehead.
For a second, Daniel could only stare.
He had spent six months telling himself their divorce had been unavoidable.
He had spent that afternoon believing she had stormed out.
Now she was looking at him as though she wasn’t sure he had really come.
“Get these off,” she whispered.
He found scissors on a dusty worktable and cut the plastic ties.
Lily slipped through the doorway.
“Mommy!”
Claire gathered her daughter with a cry that stripped every excuse from Daniel’s mind.
He pulled out his phone and called 911.
“An ambulance and police,” he said. “A woman has been restrained in my house. A child was assaulted.”
Vanessa made a small sound behind him.
Claire flinched.
Daniel moved to block her view.
“You’re safe.”
Claire looked up sharply.
“Don’t say that until you know.”
“What happened?”
“Vanessa asked me to come in here. She said there were papers about Lily.”
Her voice shook.
“When I wouldn’t sign, she grabbed me. Marcus helped.”
From the hallway, Marcus snapped, “That’s a lie.”
Claire tightened her arms around Lily.
“They wanted your father’s files.”
Daniel looked toward the stacked cabinets.
Then he remembered something his father had said shortly before dying.
If anyone starts asking about that storage room, call me first.
At the time, Daniel had thought it was another old man’s obsession.
May you like
Claire followed his gaze.
“Daniel,” she whispered, “they weren’t looking for the house.”
