Chapter 10 - the third key)
Claire ran after her.
Ethan shouted her name.
She ignored him.
Vanessa moved quickly through the ruins.
Her red dress snapped in the wind.
Claire followed her into an old corridor beneath the bell tower.
"Stop!"
Vanessa did.
She turned.
"You wore white."
Claire stared.
"You wore red."
Vanessa almost smiled.
"Tradition matters."
"Where is Thomas?"
"I told you. I didn't take him."
"Someone has him."
"Yes."
"Who?"
"I think I know."
"Tell me."
Vanessa looked behind Claire.
Ethan arrived.
Richard followed.
Vanessa's expression changed when she saw Richard.
"You."
Richard stopped.
"Vanessa."
"My brother trusted you."
"I know."
"And you left him here."
Richard's face tightened.
"I tried to save him."
"You saved yourself."
Claire stepped between them.
"Enough."
She looked at Vanessa.
"You said Daniel hid the third key somewhere only you would remember."
"He did."
"Richard has a key."
Vanessa stared at Richard's necklace.
Then laughed.
"That's not the third key."
Richard looked confused.
Vanessa stepped closer.
"Daniel switched them."
"What?"
"He knew you would betray him."
Richard removed his key.
Vanessa looked at the engraving.
"This opens the old reliquary."
Claire felt a strange rush of hope.
"So Daniel's real key is still here."
Vanessa nodded.
"Where?"
She looked toward the bell tower.
"When we were children, Daniel used to hide things where our mother couldn't reach."
Ten minutes later Vanessa climbed a narrow stairway inside the tower.
At the top hung the ancient iron bell.
She reached behind a loose stone.
Nothing.
Her face fell.
"No."
She searched again.
"Someone took it."
Claire's heart sank.
Then Ethan noticed scratches on the stone.
"Recently moved."
Marcus arrived behind them.
He examined the dust.
"Within days."
Vanessa turned toward him.
"You."
Marcus looked at her.
"What?"
"You've been everywhere we've gone."
Ethan stepped between them.
"Stop."
Vanessa pointed at Marcus.
"He followed Claire to the storage unit."
"Because Richard paid me."
"He had access to Thomas's property."
"So did you."
"He controls security today."
Marcus remained calm.
Vanessa laughed.
"That's always your talent, Marcus. Calm."
Claire stared at her.
"You know him."
Vanessa's eyes never left Marcus.
"He worked for my father."
Marcus said nothing.
Claire looked at him.
"Is that true?"
"Years ago."
"What did you do?"
"Security."
Vanessa's voice cut in.
"He watched Daniel."
Marcus turned toward her.
"I was twenty-six."
"You followed him."
"I was told he was stealing."
"And the night he disappeared?"
Marcus looked toward Claire.
"I followed him to Saint Orison."
Claire felt cold.
"What happened?"
Marcus swallowed.
"Daniel met Eleanor."
"My mother."
"Yes."
"Then?"
"They entered the ruins."
"Did you follow?"
"Yes."
Vanessa stepped closer.
"And?"
Marcus looked at her.
"Your brother was alive when I left."
"You're lying."
"I'm not."
"Who else was here?"
Marcus's jaw tightened.
Before he could answer, a gunshot echoed from below.
Everyone froze.
A second shot followed.
Then shouting.
Marcus grabbed his radio.
No response.
They ran down the stairs.
In the courtyard guests were being moved toward the lodge.
One security officer lay injured beside the wall.
No blood was visible from where Claire stood, but his face was pale.
Ethan pulled Claire behind him.
Marcus spoke into his radio.
"Report."
Static.
Then a voice.
"We have an intruder inside the chapel."
Claire looked toward the nursery annex.
A door stood open.
Her heart stopped.
"No."
She ran.
Ethan caught her.
"Lily isn't here."
Claire stared at the open door.
She knew that.
She had known it all day.
But something inside her reacted before reason could.
Then a child's cry came from the room.
Claire froze.
Ethan froze.
They looked at each other.
"That's Lily," Claire whispered.
Impossible.
They ran inside.
A toddler in a pale pink dress sat on the floor crying.
Claire stopped breathing.
It was Lily.
May you like
The real Lily.
And beside the open window lay Claire's sister's phone.
