Chapter 6 - THE PASSAGE BEHIND THE PAINTING
Isabella refused.
William asked once.
Then he called the head of security.
Within minutes, two guards and Mr. Langley accompanied them to the west hallway. Emma and Nora followed despite Isabella’s order that they remain downstairs.
The antique painting appeared immovable.
William examined the frame.
Emma searched along the wall until she found a brass flower hidden within the carved molding. When she pressed it, gears shifted behind the plaster.
The painting slid aside.
The cracked opening appeared.
Ethan crouched inside.
The moment William saw him, he stopped breathing.
Ethan looked smaller than the boy in the photograph. His cheeks were hollow, and bruises circled his wrists. Dust covered his formal shirt.
William reached through the opening.
“Come here, son.”
Ethan stared at Isabella.
She stood ten feet away, guarded by security, but his body shook violently.
Emma stepped between them.
“You can come to me.”
Ethan crawled from the wall and collapsed into her arms.
William’s pain turned to horror.
“What did they do to you?”
Ethan did not answer.
William removed his jacket and wrapped it around him.
“Call the police,” he ordered.
Isabella’s composure finally broke.
“You cannot involve them.”
William turned.
“My son was imprisoned inside my house.”
“He was hidden for his own safety.”
“From whom?”
“From himself.”
Ethan clutched Emma’s arm.
“Don’t open that door.”
Everyone looked into the passage.
The black door stood at the far end, secured by three locks.
William’s voice became quiet.
“What door?”
Something knocked from the other side.
Three times.
Then a woman whispered Ethan’s name.
Isabella lunged toward the passage.
A security guard caught her.
“You don’t know what is in there!” she screamed.
William entered the narrow corridor.
Emma followed with Ethan.
The passage opened into the lower medical wing, but the route from the painting bypassed the metal shutter Isabella had lowered.
At the black door, William found an electronic lock above three iron bolts.
He looked at Ethan.
“Who is inside?”
Ethan pressed his face against Emma’s uniform.
“The sleeping woman.”
“What sleeping woman?”
“The one Isabella said was dead.”
William stopped moving.
Isabella shouted from the hallway.
“She is dangerous!”
William turned slowly.
“Who is she?”
Isabella said nothing.
Emma noticed a silver nameplate almost hidden beneath grime on the door.
She wiped it clean with her yellow glove.
Eleanor Sterling.
William staggered backward.
“No.”
Mr. Langley crossed himself.
Nora whispered, “Who is Eleanor?”
William’s face had gone white.
“My wife.”
Emma looked at Ethan.
“His mother?”
William nodded.
“She died seven years ago.”
A woman coughed behind the door.
William pressed both hands against the wood.
“Eleanor?”
For several seconds, there was only silence.
Then a weak voice answered.
“William.”
He tore at the iron bolts.
The first opened.
The second resisted until one of the guards helped him.
The third was wired to the electronic lock.
Mr. Langley found a control panel beside the door.
“It requires a code.”
William entered Eleanor’s birthday.
Rejected.
Their wedding anniversary.
Rejected.
Ethan stepped forward.
“Try my birthday.”
William entered the numbers.
The lock turned green.
Before he could open the door, Isabella broke free from the guard.
She seized a fire axe from the emergency cabinet and swung it into the electrical panel.
Sparks exploded across the corridor.
The lights died.
In the darkness, Isabella screamed, “You should have left the dead buried!”
A gunshot cracked through the passage.
Emma pulled Ethan to the floor.
Someone fell.
When the emergency lights flickered on, the black door was open.
William stood in the doorway.
The room beyond was empty.
A hospital bed sat beneath a single lamp.
The restraints had been cut.
A trail of fresh blood led toward another passage.
On the bed lay a white envelope addressed to William.
May you like
Inside was a message written in Eleanor’s handwriting.
Do not trust the man who helped you find me.
