Chapter 6 - The Mirror Archive
No one moved.
Renata stood beside the marble bathtub, holding the device like a detonator.
Grant’s voice was calm.
“What did you do to this house?”
Renata smiled faintly.
“You are asking the wrong question.”
“What is the right one?”
“What did your wife do?”
Grant glanced at the mirror.
Lily hid against Emma.
Renata noticed.
“Celeste watched everyone,” she continued. “The staff. The guards. You. Even her own daughter.”
“To protect us,” Mason said.
“Is that what she told you?”
Mason’s gun remained steady.
Renata lifted the device higher.
“One press, and the archive burns.”
Grant stepped closer.
“Then why haven’t you pressed it?”
For the first time, Renata hesitated.
Grant saw it.
“You need something inside.”
Renata’s fingers tightened.
He continued walking toward her.
“You could have destroyed it months ago. You didn’t because there is something in the archive that you still haven’t found.”
“Stop.”
“What are you looking for?”
“Grant, stay back.”
He was only a few feet away now.
Renata pressed her thumb against the button.
Emma held her breath.
Lily suddenly reached toward the floor.
The curling wand lay beneath the marble bench, its cord stretched across the tiles.
She pointed.
Emma understood.
The device in Renata’s hand had a small green light.
It was not a detonator.
It was a remote control.
Emma moved her foot carefully and stepped on the curling wand’s electrical cord, pulling the plug from the wall.
The chandelier flickered.
At the same instant, Lily threw her silver hair clip across the bathroom.
It struck the far mirror.
Renata turned instinctively toward the sound.
Grant seized her wrist.
The device fell.
Officer Reyes kicked it away.
Mason restrained Renata against the wall.
She screamed.
“You have no idea what you’re doing!”
Grant pulled the device apart.
Inside was a basic radio transmitter.
“No explosive trigger,” he said.
Mason looked beneath the mirror frame.
“It may control an electronic lock.”
Officer Reyes removed Renata’s jewelry and searched the pockets of her robe. He found a second device, two keys, and a memory card wrapped in tissue.
Renata’s face changed when he held up the card.
“That is mine.”
Grant took it.
“What is on it?”
“Private information.”
“About my family?”
“You have no right.”
Grant’s stare became icy.
“This is my house, my daughter, and the room where you burned her.”
Renata stopped speaking.
Mason examined the red light beneath the mirror.
“There is a release mechanism.”
He pressed the edge of the gold trim.
The enormous mirror shifted forward.
Behind it was a narrow steel cabinet filled with wires, hard drives, and small black recording units. A digital clock displayed the current date and time.
The system was still running.
Grant stared in disbelief.
“How long has this been active?”
Mason checked the labels.
“Some drives are dated four years ago.”
Emma saw a slot marked Archive B.
It was empty.
The memory card from the greenhouse might belong there.
She looked at Mason.
He gave the smallest nod.
Do not reveal it yet.
Renata watched them.
She knew they had found something.
“Grant,” she said softly, changing her tone. “You need to listen to me. Celeste was not the woman you believed she was.”
“Be quiet.”
“She was planning to leave you.”
“Be quiet.”
“She was collecting evidence against you.”
Grant’s face remained still, but the words struck him.
Renata continued.
“She believed your company was involved in illegal surveillance contracts. She was going to take Lily and disappear.”
Lily whimpered.
Grant turned.
The sound broke whatever hold Renata’s words had created.
He crossed to his daughter.
Emma lowered Lily carefully into his arms.
At first, Lily’s body remained stiff.
Then Grant whispered, “I’m sorry I didn’t see.”
Lily placed her arms around his neck.
Grant closed his eyes.
Renata watched them with hatred.
Officer Reyes led her toward the door.
She looked back at Lily.
“This is not over.”
Grant turned.
“It is for you.”
Renata laughed.
“No, Grant. It began with your wife. It continued with me. And when you open that archive, you will discover that neither of us was the person controlling this house.”
Mason pushed her into the hallway.
The bathroom fell silent.
Emma reached into her uniform and removed Celeste’s memory card.
Mason’s eyes widened.
Grant looked at it.
“Where did you get that?”
“From a hidden room in the west greenhouse.”
Grant stared at her.
“There is no room in the west greenhouse.”
May you like
Emma placed the card in his hand.
“Your wife left it for Lily.”
