Chapter 3 - The Room Beneath the Floor
Daniel Carter had never told Emma about a room beneath the cabin.
For the next hour, Emma replayed every memory she had of the place.
The stone fireplace.
The oak kitchen table.
The narrow loft where Daniel used to sleep as a child.
The storage pantry.
The old wood floors.
No hidden staircase.
No trapdoor.
No locked basement.
Nothing.
Jack sat beside the hospital window.
"When Daniel called me, he sounded scared."
"Daniel wasn't scared of anything."
"Everyone's scared of something."
"What did he find?"
"He didn't say."
"You expect me to believe he called you after barely knowing you?"
Jack studied her.
"We knew each other better than you think."
Emma waited.
Jack sighed.
"Twenty-three years ago, Daniel's father and I worked together."
"My father-in-law?"
"Thomas Carter."
Emma had met Thomas only twice before his death.
He had been quiet, formal, distant.
Daniel rarely spoke about him.
"What kind of work?"
"Construction."
Emma frowned.
"Daniel said his father worked for the county."
"He did later."
"Later?"
Jack nodded.
"Before that, we worked private contracts around Black Pine."
"What contracts?"
Jack rubbed his hands together.
"Cabins. Service tunnels. Storm shelters."
Emma understood where this was going.
"The room beneath Daniel's cabin."
Jack looked at her.
"I helped build it."
The words settled heavily between them.
"When?"
"Nineteen ninety-eight."
"What was it for?"
"They told us emergency storage."
"They?"
"The people paying us."
"Who?"
"Black Pine Development Corporation."
Emma recognized the name.
"That's the company that owns half the mountain."
"Used to own more."
"What was in the room?"
"I don't know."
"You built it."
"We built walls. Installed ventilation. Reinforced doors. Then they replaced the crew."
"Why?"
Jack gave a humorless smile.
"Because that's what people do when they don't want laborers knowing what's stored behind the doors."
Emma looked toward the hallway.
"Daniel found that room."
"Yes."
"Then he died."
"Two days later."
A cold weight formed in Emma's chest.
"My husband's autopsy said cardiac arrest."
"Autopsies say what bodies tell them."
"What does that mean?"
"Some poisons disappear."
Emma stared at him.
"You're telling me Daniel was murdered."
"I'm telling you Daniel believed he was in danger."
Emma's eyes burned.
"Why didn't you come to me?"
"Because the day after he died, someone visited me."
"Who?"
"The man from the hillside."
Emma's breath caught.
"You knew him?"
"Not his name."
"What did he say?"
"He showed me a picture of my daughter."
Emma went silent.
Jack continued.
"She's thirty-two. Lives in Arizona. Married. Two kids."
His voice thickened.
"The picture showed her outside her son's school."
Emma understood.
"He threatened her."
"He didn't need to."
Jack looked toward the floor.
"He told me Daniel died from natural causes and that smart men respected natural causes."
Emma whispered, "So you stayed quiet."
"Yes."
"Until tonight."
"Tonight they tried to kill you in front of me."
"Why does that matter more?"
Jack met her eyes.
"Because I spent nine months convincing myself silence kept my family safe."
He paused.
"It didn't. Three weeks ago they used your seventeen-year-old stepson to plan your murder. These people don't stop when you obey them."
Emma looked away.
A nurse entered.
"Mrs. Carter, there's someone here asking to see you."
Emma immediately tensed.
"Who?"
The nurse checked her tablet.
"Lydia Carter."
Emma froze.
Daniel's younger sister.
She had not spoken to Lydia in almost six months.
"Let her in."
Minutes later, Lydia entered wearing a soaked black coat.
Her blond hair was plastered to her face.
She rushed to Emma.
"Oh my God."
Emma allowed herself to be hugged.
Then pulled back.
"Have you heard from Evan?"
Lydia shook her head.
"The police called me."
Her face was pale.
"They said he might be involved."
"He is."
Lydia looked devastated.
"No."
"He told me I should've sold the cabin before we went over the cliff."
Lydia sat down hard.
"That doesn't make sense."
"Apparently the cabin matters."
At the word cabin, Lydia's eyes flickered.
Emma saw it.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"Lydia."
"I'm shocked."
"No. You reacted."
Lydia stood.
"I need coffee."
Emma grabbed her wrist.
"Lydia."
Jack watched from the corner.
Emma lowered her voice.
"What is under the cabin?"
Lydia pulled free.
"I don't know."
"Daniel found a hidden room before he died."
All the color disappeared from Lydia's face.
Emma stared.
"You knew."
Lydia looked toward Jack.
Then toward the hospital door.
When she spoke, her voice trembled.
"Daniel made me promise never to tell you."
"Tell me what?"
Lydia's eyes filled with tears.
"He didn't find an empty room."
Emma stopped breathing.
May you like
"What did he find?"
Lydia whispered, "Your name."
