Chapter 3 - A Warning in the Night
The call came at twelve seventeen in the morning.
Eleanor had not gone to bed.
She sat alone in the darkened library with Sophie’s letter on the table and a glass of untouched brandy beside it.
Daniel Cross had arrived at ten and spent two hours examining the limited facts.
He was fifty-eight, broad-shouldered, and quieter than Eleanor remembered. A pale scar ran from his right temple into his hairline, a souvenir from a case he never discussed. He had served as a detective for twenty-six years before retiring under circumstances the newspapers called “a disagreement with leadership.”
Daniel called it refusing to bury evidence.
“Saint Catherine’s has no admission record for Chloe,” he told Eleanor. “At least not under her name.”
“Could Julian have used a private clinic?”
“He could have. But the death certificate lists Saint Catherine’s.”
“Then it is fraudulent.”
“Or the record is restricted.”
“Can you get inside?”
“Eventually. Not tonight.”
The telephone rang before Eleanor could answer.
Arthur reached for it.
Eleanor stopped him.
“I’ll take it.”
She lifted the receiver.
No one spoke.
“Who is this?”
A man’s breathing trembled on the line.
“Mrs. Whitmore?”
“Yes.”
“My name is Owen Mercer. I work at Briarwood Memorial.”
Daniel immediately stepped closer.
Eleanor pressed the receiver against her ear.
“What do you want?”
“I need you to listen carefully. I can’t stay on long.”
“Is this about Chloe?”
The man began to cry.
“She wasn’t dead when she arrived.”
Eleanor’s knees weakened.
Daniel pulled out a notebook.
“What did you see?” Eleanor asked.
“She had a pulse. She cried. She spoke.”
“Where is she now?”
“They took her back.”
“Who?”
“Victoria Vale and a doctor named Keller.”
Eleanor looked at Daniel.
He wrote the name.
“What did they do to her?”
“They injected her with something. I tried to stop them.”
“Is she alive now?”
“I don’t know.”
Eleanor pressed one hand to the desk.
“You will go to the police.”
“No.”
“You witnessed an attempted murder.”
“You don’t understand. They know where my daughter goes to school.”
“I can protect her.”
“They own the funeral home. They knew everything about me before I knew who they were.”
“Where are you?”
The line crackled.
“I can’t tell you.”
“You called me for a reason.”
“I heard Chloe asking for you.”
Eleanor shut her eyes.
“What did she say?”
“She said your house was safe.”
For the first time since Julian’s call, Eleanor’s control broke.
A sound escaped her throat, half sob and half gasp.
Daniel took the telephone gently from her hand.
“This is Daniel Cross,” he said. “I need evidence.”
“I have the child’s hospital bracelet.”
“Photograph it.”
“I already did.”
“Send it to this number.”
Daniel gave him a secure contact.
“What else?” he asked.
“There was a hidden compartment inside the casket they ordered. I saw the design sheet. It’s beneath the mattress platform.”
“What is it for?”
“I don’t know. Ventilation equipment, maybe. The order came directly from Victoria.”
Daniel’s eyes narrowed.
“Was the casket built for a living person?”
Silence.
“I think it was built to keep her alive temporarily.”
Eleanor looked up.
“Why?” Daniel asked.
“I don’t know.”
The call ended.
Daniel immediately tried to trace the number.
The prepaid line was already disconnected.
Eleanor crossed the library and gripped the edge of the fireplace mantel.
“She is alive.”
“Possibly.”
“She spoke.”
“If Owen is telling the truth.”
“He knew about the drawing.”
“Chloe could have told him.”
“She told him because she is alive.”
Daniel did not argue.
Instead, he picked up his coat.
“Where are you going?”
“To Briarwood.”
“They will be expecting someone.”
“Then I won’t use the front door.”
Eleanor turned toward Arthur.
“Wake the staff. I want every entrance to the estate guarded.”
Daniel paused.
“That may alert Julian that you know something.”
“I don’t care.”
“You should. If they realize you are suspicious, they may move Chloe.”
Eleanor looked toward Sophie’s letter.
“Then what do you suggest?”
“Attend the funeral.”
Her face hardened.
“You want me to sit in that hall while my granddaughter lies drugged inside a casket?”
“I want them to believe you know nothing until we can get close enough to reach her.”
“She may not survive until Saturday.”
“That is why I’m going to Briarwood tonight.”
Eleanor crossed the room.
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
“She is my family.”
“And if they see you, the entire plan collapses.”
Eleanor stared at him.
Daniel held her gaze.
“You hired me because I tell you the truth. The truth is that rage will make you visible. Tonight I need to be invisible.”
She hated him for being right.
“Bring her home.”
“I will bring back whatever I find.”
At one in the morning, Daniel parked half a mile from Briarwood Memorial and approached through the cemetery behind the building.
Rain had turned the earth soft beneath his boots.
The funeral home’s rear service door was locked, but an old basement window had not been properly secured. Daniel forced it open and entered a storage room filled with folded chairs and artificial flowers.
He moved through the building without light.
Voices carried from the preparation wing.
Daniel followed them.
Through a narrow gap in a partially closed door, he saw Victoria speaking with Julian.
Chloe lay inside the white casket between them.
A clear tube ran beneath the satin lining and disappeared into the hidden compartment Owen had described.
Dr. Keller adjusted a small machine.
Julian paced beside the wall.
“This was supposed to be finished tonight,” he said.
Victoria crossed her arms.
“And lose access to the trust?”
“My mother already controls it.”
“Only until Chloe is legally buried.”
Daniel froze.
Julian lowered his voice.
“What happens after the funeral?”
“We move her through the tunnel and Keller completes the procedure.”
“What if she wakes during the service?”
“She won’t.”
“She woke tonight.”
“Because Owen disrupted the dosage.”
Julian looked at the child.
For one moment, something resembling guilt crossed his face.
“She’s my daughter.”
Victoria stepped closer to him.
“And Sophie was your wife. That didn’t stop you then.”
Daniel silently activated the recorder on his phone.
Julian’s face changed.
“Keep your voice down.”
“You chose this the moment you forged those company transfers.”
“You told me Sophie would never find out.”
“She found out. Then she became a problem.”
Chloe moved inside the casket.
Julian turned away.
Victoria adjusted the blanket around the child with chilling tenderness.
“After Saturday, Whitmore Industries belongs to us.”
“And my mother?”
“She will grieve herself into obedience.”
Daniel shifted his weight.
A floorboard creaked.
Victoria turned toward the door.
“Who’s there?”
Daniel moved.
A security guard emerged from the hallway.
Daniel struck him once, drove him against the wall, and ran toward the storage wing.
Alarms began to sound.
He reached the basement window, climbed through it, and dropped into the cemetery.
Two men pursued him across the graves.
A gunshot cracked through the rain.
Stone shattered beside his shoulder.
Daniel reached the trees and disappeared into darkness.
Back inside, Victoria opened the casket.
Chloe’s eyes were half-open.
“Was that Grandma?” she whispered.
Victoria smiled.
“No, sweetheart.”
May you like
She filled another syringe.
“But I think your grandmother will be joining you sooner than expected.”
