Chapter 13 - The Room Beneath the House
The number was a locker.
Claire found the corresponding locker in the basement of the old estate.
Inside was a hard drive.
A photograph.
And a sealed envelope.
The photograph showed Claire's father standing beside Richard's father.
But between them stood another person.
Claire stared.
She recognized the face.
Her own mother.
Claire's mother had supposedly died when Claire was a child.
But the photograph was dated three years later.
Claire could barely speak.
“What is this?”
Evelyn took the photograph.
She began crying.
“I didn't know.”
Richard stared.
“Who is that?”
Claire whispered:
“My mother.”
The envelope contained a letter.
It explained that Claire's mother had discovered the family network and disappeared to protect her daughter.
The hard drive contained years of records.
Names.
Payments.
Companies.
Witnesses.
But one folder was encrypted.
The folder was labeled MATEO.
Claire opened it.
A video appeared.
Mateo was older.
Five years old.
He sat in the same underground room.
Richard was beside him.
But this time, Richard wasn't threatening him.
He was apologizing.
“I know you're scared.”
Young Mateo nodded.
Richard whispered:
“Your mother cannot know yet.”
“Why?”
“Because if she knows, they'll come after her.”
“Who?”
Richard looked toward the camera.
“Everyone.”
The video ended.
Claire looked at Richard.
“You knew my mother was alive.”
“No.”
“Then who filmed this?”
Richard had no answer.
The hard drive suddenly displayed another file.
LIVE.
Claire clicked it.
A camera feed appeared.
It showed the Bennett mansion.
Their home.
Their bedrooms.
Their office.
Their kitchen.
Someone had been watching them.
For years.
Maria covered her mouth.
“They've been inside the house.”
Claire looked at the screen.
Then noticed something.
The camera was positioned behind a painting.
A painting in her bedroom.
She remembered Richard buying it.
She remembered Evelyn saying it was an antique.
Claire's hands shook.
She returned to the mansion.
The painting was still there.
She pulled it from the wall.
A hidden compartment opened.
Inside was another phone.
It began ringing.
Claire answered.
Her father's voice came through.
“Claire.”
She dropped the phone.
She knew that voice.
It was impossible.
Her father was dead.
But the voice was unmistakable.
“Dad?”
Silence.
Then:
“You need to stop looking for the truth.”
Claire's eyes filled with tears.
“Where are you?”
“I am closer than you think.”
The call ended.
Richard stared at her.
“Your father?”
Claire nodded.
Then the phone received one final message.
A photograph.
It showed a man sitting in a dark room.
Claire zoomed in.
The man looked older.
But alive.
May you like
Her father.
And beside him stood Pamela.
