Chapter 6 - The Night the Mansion Closed
Elena did not answer.
Marcus struck the door with the flat of his hand.
“Open it.”
She moved toward the private staircase, but the electronic lock flashed red.
Blocked.
Gabriel had warned her that the mansion’s locks could be controlled from the security office.
Marcus had taken control of the system.
Elena reached for the new phone hidden inside the wardrobe.
No signal.
A jammer had been activated.
“Elena,” Marcus said through the door, “I know someone helped you.”
She remained silent.
“You are frightened. I understand that. My mother pressured you.”
He was already shifting blame.
“She has always been too aggressive. Open the door, and I will send her away.”
Elena moved to the window.
The garden below was three floors down.
No escape.
Marcus’s voice softened.
“We can still fix this.”
Elena placed the disappearing-ink pen inside the pocket of her robe.
“What did Vanessa promise you?” she asked.
Silence.
Then Marcus said, “Vanessa has nothing to do with this.”
“I heard you in the west hallway.”
The door shook beneath another blow.
“You should not have gone into that room.”
“My father knew what you were doing.”
“Your father knew nothing.”
“He recorded you.”
The pounding stopped.
Elena pictured Marcus standing motionless outside.
“What recording?”
“Room seventeen.”
His silence confirmed everything.
She continued.
“I saw the hotel footage.”
“Elena, listen to me. Your father was not the man you believed he was.”
“Then tell me what happened.”
“He tried to destroy my family.”
“Why?”
“Open the door.”
“No.”
A second voice came from the hallway.
Diane.
“She has the drive.”
Marcus whispered something.
Then Diane spoke through the door.
“Elena, you are confused. The substance I gave you may be affecting your judgment.”
Elena almost laughed.
“You admit you gave me something?”
“I gave you a safe medication for anxiety.”
“Without telling me.”
“You needed help.”
The conversation was being recorded by the device in Elena’s robe.
She needed them to continue.
“What happens tomorrow?” she asked.
Diane replied, “We take you to a private clinic.”
Marcus interrupted.
“Mother.”
But Diane kept speaking.
“You will rest there until the child is born.”
“And after?”
“You will recover.”
“What happens to my daughter?”
“She will be cared for.”
“By Vanessa?”
This time, Diane became silent.
Elena moved closer to the door.
“Vanessa is not helping you, is she?”
Marcus said, “Stop talking.”
“She has her own plan.”
“Elena.”
“What did she promise after the baby was gone?”
The door burst inward.
Marcus stood in the frame holding a metal fireplace tool.
Diane was behind him.
Elena stepped back.
Marcus dropped the tool.
“I was not going to hurt you.”
“You broke the door.”
“You forced me.”
Diane entered and closed the damaged door as far as it would move.
“Give us the drive.”
“It is not here.”
“Where is it?”
“With someone you cannot reach.”
Marcus glanced at his mother.
Diane’s expression hardened.
“Search her.”
Marcus hesitated.
Elena looked at him.
“This is your last chance.”
“To do what?”
“To remember that your daughter can hear your voice.”
His eyes dropped toward her belly.
For one moment, something human appeared in his face.
Then Diane said, “She is manipulating you.”
The moment vanished.
Marcus reached toward Elena.
She stepped aside and pulled the robe tighter.
“Do not touch me.”
“We only need the recorder.”
“What recorder?”
Diane looked toward the nursery.
Elena understood too late.
The listening device behind the headboard had captured her conversation with Gabriel.
They knew about the evidence.
Diane left the bedroom.
Marcus blocked Elena from following.
“What did you do to my father?” Elena asked.
“I never touched him.”
“That is not an answer.”
“He discovered things he was not supposed to discover.”
“About you and Vanessa?”
Marcus looked toward the hallway.
“Vanessa was supposed to help us negotiate.”
“Negotiate what?”
“The reserve account.”
“The money belongs to the medical foundation.”
“It belonged to your mother before she died.”
“My mother created it.”
“She took it from the Reyes family.”
Elena stared at him.
“My mother never worked with your family.”
“That is what Daniel told you.”
A crash came from the nursery.
Diane had found something.
Marcus turned.
Elena pushed past him.
They reached the nursery together.
The hidden panel behind the headboard was open.
Diane stood holding a small blue transmitter.
It was not one of Gabriel’s devices.
The blue symbol matched the object police would later find beneath the sofa.
Diane’s face had lost all color.
“Where did this come from?” Marcus asked.
“I didn’t install it,” Diane said.
“Neither did I.”
The transmitter emitted a soft beep.
Then Vanessa’s voice came through its speaker.
“Good evening.”
Marcus stepped backward.
Diane gripped the device.
“Vanessa?”
“You were told to follow the schedule.”
Marcus looked around the room.
“Where are you?”
“Close enough.”
Elena remained near the door.
Vanessa continued.
“The silver drive was opened. Daniel’s files were copied. This arrangement is now compromised.”
Diane’s voice shook.
“We can still complete the transfer.”
“No.”
“Vanessa, listen to me.”
“I have listened to you for six years.”
The speaker crackled.
Then Vanessa said, “Marcus, ask your mother what happened to your father.”
Marcus stared at Diane.
“My father died when I was twelve.”
“That is what she told you.”
Diane threw the transmitter against the wall.
It broke into two pieces.
The room fell silent.
Marcus looked at his mother.
“What did she mean?”
“Nothing.”
“Mother.”
“Vanessa is trying to divide us.”
“What happened to my father?”
Diane moved toward the doorway.
Marcus caught her arm.
Elena used the distraction to slip into the hall.
She hurried downstairs.
The mansion was dark except for emergency lights along the floor.
Every outer door was locked.
Her phone still had no signal.
She reached the library and opened the old landline cabinet.
Daniel had installed a separate emergency circuit after a fire twenty years earlier.
Elena dialed Nora’s number.
The line rang once.
Then someone disconnected it from another room.
Footsteps sounded on the staircase.
Elena removed the recording device from her robe and pushed it beneath the sofa.
She reached behind the bookcase and pressed the silent alarm Gabriel had installed.
A blue light flashed.
Signal sent.
Marcus entered the library.
Diane followed him.
The argument about his father had ended.
Whatever Diane told him had restored their alliance.
“Elena,” Marcus said, “we are going to sit down.”
“No.”
Diane closed the library doors.
“You have made this more difficult than necessary.”
Elena placed one hand over her belly.
A movement came from the front hallway.
Someone had entered through the unlocked garden door.
Nora appeared near the mansion entrance holding her phone.
Before she could speak, Diane grabbed Elena by the hair.
Marcus raised his foot, not yet striking, but using the movement to force Elena backward.
Nora’s camera flashed.
“I saw everything,” she said.
The moment Elena had prepared for had arrived.
But as the hidden recorder began to play Marcus’s earlier confession, Elena saw something moving beyond the window.
Vanessa was standing at the gate.
May you like
She held a blue envelope.
And she was smiling.
