Chapter 5 - THE BACK STAIRS
Alexandre stopped so sharply Lucie nearly struck his back.
The man held the knife low.
“Move.”
Behind them, Officer Moreau shouted from the drawing room.
The intruder backed toward the service stairs.
Lucie recognized him.
Marc Vidal.
Valérie’s driver.
He had once helped carry groceries to her mother’s apartment.
The photograph on her phone suddenly made sense.
“You went to my mother.”
Marc glanced at her.
“Stay out of this.”
Alexandre stepped forward.
Marc lifted the blade.
“Don’t.”
A bedroom door opened behind him.
Mrs. Besson, the housekeeper, stood in the doorway holding a heavy brass fire poker.
For a moment, Marc’s eyes shifted.
Alexandre lunged.
They hit the banister together.
The knife scraped wood.
Lucie grabbed Alexandre’s jacket as Marc drove an elbow into his throat. The blue notebook fell, skidded beneath a console table, and disappeared into the shadows.
Marc tore free.
He ran down the service stairs with Moreau behind him.
A door slammed below.
Then tires shrieked outside.
Alexandre bent over, coughing.
Lucie dropped to her knees and reached under the console.
Her fingertips caught the notebook.
The cover was worn soft. Inside, the handwriting changed halfway through.
The first pages belonged to a man named Thomas.
Valérie’s late husband.
Mathéo’s father.
There were dates, account numbers, and notes written in short, angry bursts.
V. thinks Alex will never ask.
Paul moved the clinic money.
Claire has copies.
Lucie turned a page.
Thomas had pressed so hard the pen had nearly torn through.
If anything happens to me, it was not the brakes.
Alexandre read over her shoulder.
“My brother died in a car accident.”
Lucie looked up.
“How long after Claire disappeared?”
“Six months.”
Below them, Valérie began shouting.
“I want my son! You have no right to keep him from me!”
Alexandre took the notebook with shaking hands.
At the back, tucked into a split in the lining, was a photograph.
Thomas stood beside Claire outside a small stone building.
Between them was a young woman holding a baby.
Lucie knew that woman.
Her mother.
She turned the photograph over.
May you like
Written beneath the date were five words.
Keep Lucie away from Valérie.
