Chapter 7 - forty-seven minutes
The emergency light inside H-3 glowed red.
Margaret found a manual ventilation switch, but the handle had been removed.
Leah searched the desk and cabinets while Diane continued calling Richard’s name.
Maisie sat beneath the red light, trying to be brave.
“Mom,” she said, “are we going to be okay?”
Leah knelt in front of her.
“Yes.”
“You promise?”
“I promise I will keep looking until we are.”
Maisie nodded.
Leah could not promise more.
Margaret estimated that the room contained enough air for several hours, but fear would make them breathe faster. Diane was already gasping.
“Stop shouting,” Leah ordered.
“My husband locked us in here.”
“And shouting won’t open the door.”
Diane pressed both hands against her mouth.
Leah returned to the photograph.
Daniel Mercer had been standing beside Rose. In his other hand, he held a wooden bird.
A carved owl.
Elias used secret compartments in every animal he made.
Leah searched the shelves until she found a row of wooden figures. Most were solid.
The owl opened when she pressed its eyes.
Inside was a narrow metal tool shaped like a key.
Margaret used it to remove the screws from the ventilation panel.
Cold air entered the room.
Maisie smiled.
“I knew Grandpa Elias would help us.”
Leah looked at her.
“You call him Grandpa?”
“He told me I could.”
Margaret turned away to hide her tears.
The ventilation shaft was too narrow for an adult, but Maisie could fit.
Leah rejected the idea immediately.
“No.”
“Mom, I can crawl to the other room.”
“We don’t know where it goes.”
Maisie pointed through the vent.
“There’s light.”
The opening appeared to connect with H-2.
If Maisie could reach that room, she might unlock the corridor.
Leah held her shoulders.
“You do not have to do this.”
“I know.”
“Being brave doesn’t mean doing something dangerous because adults ask you.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you saying yes?”
“Because you said you would keep looking. I can look too.”
Leah closed her eyes.
They tied two electrical cords together and looped one end around Maisie’s waist. Margaret entered the shaft first as far as her shoulders would fit, checking for sharp edges.
Maisie crawled inside.
Leah held the cord.
“You can stop whenever you want.”
“I can see the other room.”
“Keep talking.”
“There are boxes.”
“What else?”
“A chair. A big lamp.”
The cord moved steadily.
Then it stopped.
“Maisie?”
No answer.
“Maisie!”
“I’m here. There’s something in the way.”
“What?”
“A metal door inside the tunnel.”
Leah’s hope collapsed.
“Come back.”
“Wait.”
A soft clicking sound echoed through the vent.
Maisie had found another latch.
The metal barrier opened.
She crawled farther.
“I’m in the other room.”
A minute later, the H-2 door opened from inside.
Maisie ran into the corridor and unlocked H-3.
Leah pulled her into an embrace.
“You did it.”
Maisie clung to her.
“There was a suitcase in the vent.”
“What suitcase?”
They returned to H-2.
A black case had been hidden above the shaft. Inside were financial records, photographs and a laptop wrapped in plastic.
Margaret examined the first document.
“These are the files Rose said she copied.”
At the bottom of the suitcase lay a photograph of Daniel Mercer holding a newborn baby.
A date had been written on the back.
Below it was a sentence.
My daughter will be called Maisie.
Diane made a broken sound.
Leah turned toward her.
“You knew.”
Diane shook her head.
“You knew Daniel was her father.”
“I suspected.”
“How?”
“Because I saw him with Rose.”
“And you told Richard.”
“No.”
“Then who did?”
May you like
Diane began to cry.
“Chelsea.”
