Chapter 3 - the night the cameras went dark
That evening, Hannah returned to the estate.
The house was quiet.
Too quiet.
She entered through the side door and noticed the security panel.
The camera system was offline.
She called the security company.
They said the system had been manually disabled.
Only two people had authorization.
Vivian.
And Richard.
Hannah stood in the dark hallway.
Then she heard a sound upstairs.
A door closing.
She climbed the staircase.
At the end of the hall, Caleb stood outside her father's bedroom.
He looked surprised.
“What are you doing?”
Hannah asked.
“Looking for something.”
“What?”
“My grandfather's watch.”
“You never cared about it before.”
Caleb smiled.
“People change.”
He walked past her.
Hannah entered the bedroom.
A drawer had been pulled open.
Several folders lay scattered across the desk.
One photograph had been left on the floor.
It showed Richard, Vivian, Hannah, and Caleb at a family dinner years earlier.
Someone had written something on the back.
Hannah picked it up.
The handwriting was hers.
Except she had never written it.
The words were simple.
Ask Vivian about the lake house.
Hannah stared at the photograph.
She remembered the lake house.
Her father had owned it before he married Vivian.
But according to everything she knew, he had sold it years ago.
She called Samuel.
“Was the lake house ever sold?”
There was silence.
Then Samuel answered.
“No.”
Hannah's pulse quickened.
“Who owns it?”
“You don't understand.”
“Who owns it?”
Samuel lowered his voice.
“Your mother.”
Hannah froze.
May you like
Her mother had died fifteen years earlier.
At least, that was what Hannah had been told.
