Chapter 3 - the room beneath the stairs
Camila’s old bedroom had not changed.
The same pale curtains hung at the windows. Her childhood books remained on the shelves, and a silver music box still sat on the dresser.
Only the photographs had been removed.
Every picture of Camila and her mother was gone.
Daniel placed Sofia’s suitcase beside the bed.
“Do you think Teresa prepared this room for us?”
“No. It looks like no one has entered since I left.”
Sofia walked toward the music box and touched the lid.
Camila opened it.
The small dancer inside began turning as a slow melody filled the room.
Beneath the dancer was a folded strip of paper.
Camila unfolded it.
THE CAMERA ABOVE THE COURTYARD IS NOT PART OF THEIR SYSTEM.
Daniel took the note.
“The handwriting is recent.”
“How did it get inside a music box that has been closed for years?”
“Someone expected you to open it.”
Sofia climbed onto the bed and hugged her cloth rabbit.
Daniel examined the windows, the smoke detector, and the air vent. He found no visible listening devices, but that did not reassure him.
A person who could bypass the apartment building and access the estate’s security archive would not use an obvious microphone.
Camila sat beside Sofia.
“I want to leave.”
Daniel looked toward the door.
“Because of the note?”
“Because Sofia is already uncomfortable.”
“She’s tired.”
“She cried when she saw the truck.”
“She cried because it was taken away.”
Camila lowered her voice.
“The warning told us not to let her touch it.”
“I know.”
“And the truck belonged to my mother.”
“I know that too.”
“Then why are we still here?”
“Because someone inside this house wants us frightened enough to leave before the birthday party.”
Camila looked at the paper again.
“What happens at the party?”
“That’s what we need to learn.”
A soft knock came from the door.
Iker stood in the hallway.
He had left the red truck behind.
“Can I see Sofia?”
Mariela appeared farther down the corridor.
“Iker, come away from there.”
“I only wanted to say hello.”
“You were told to stay in your room.”
Daniel stepped into the doorway.
“Did he do something wrong?”
Mariela’s gaze moved toward him.
“He disobeyed me.”
“By speaking to his cousin?”
“By entering a hallway where he has no reason to be.”
“This is Camila’s room.”
“Not anymore.”
Camila rose.
“You seemed very interested in the trust downstairs.”
Mariela folded her arms.
“You always believed the family owed you something.”
“My mother’s belongings would be a beginning.”
“Your mother left nothing to you.”
“Then why was her truck hidden in a locked room?”
For the first time, Mariela hesitated.
Octavio called from the landing below.
“Mariela.”
She looked over the railing.
“Bring Iker to the library.”
Her face tightened.
“Why?”
“Because I asked.”
Mariela took her son’s hand and led him away.
As they passed the staircase, Iker looked back at Camila and pointed downward.
Not toward the ground floor.
Toward the narrow door beneath the stairs.
Later that night, after Sofia had fallen asleep, Camila and Daniel returned to the entrance hall.
The house was quiet. Most of the guests had gone to their rooms, and the security guards were stationed outside.
Daniel tried the narrow door.
Locked.
Camila remembered Iker’s gesture.
“There used to be a storage room there.”
Daniel knelt beside the lock.
“This is not a storage lock. It’s reinforced.”
He removed a small inspection tool from his pocket.
“You brought that to a birthday party?”
“I married into your family. I came prepared.”
The lock opened after 40 seconds.
A narrow staircase descended into darkness.
They used the lights on their phones and followed the steps underground.
At the bottom was a small concrete room filled with electrical panels and recording equipment. Most of the machines appeared new.
One monitor displayed live views from cameras around the estate.
The kitchen.
The front gate.
The ballroom.
The olive orchard.
Their bedroom.
Camila’s breath caught.
Someone was watching Sofia sleep.
Daniel disconnected the feed.
On another monitor, a paused video showed Elena Valdés entering the courtyard 11 years earlier.
The date was the night before her death.
She was carrying the red truck.
Camila pressed play.
Elena looked directly into the camera.
“If Camila ever returns with a child,” she said, “give her the truck before the trust changes hands.”
A sound came from the staircase behind them.
May you like
The door above slammed shut.
They were locked underground.
