Chapter 3 - behind the linen wall)
Ashcroft Manor had forty-eight bedrooms, three kitchens, two ballrooms, an indoor pool, a private chapel, and enough hidden corridors to make anyone unfamiliar with the house feel trapped.
Maya knew almost every inch of it.
She led Jonathan and Curtis through a service staircase that guests rarely saw.
On the third floor they passed the west guest suites, then entered the staff corridor.
The noise from downstairs faded.
Curtis kept one hand near his jacket.
Jonathan noticed.
"You armed?"
"Yes."
"Good."
They reached the old linen room.
Maya opened the door.
Stacks of folded towels lined the shelves.
Nothing appeared unusual.
Jonathan looked at her.
"Where?"
Maya moved toward the rear wall.
She pulled three blankets from a shelf and pushed against the wooden panel behind them.
It shifted.
A narrow vertical seam appeared.
Curtis crouched.
"That's a door."
Maya touched the hidden keyhole.
Her fingers trembled.
Fourteen years.
A dead mother.
A photograph.
A warning.
All of it had led to a hole in a wall.
She inserted the brass key.
It turned.
Jonathan whispered, "My God."
The panel opened inward.
Darkness waited beyond it.
Curtis drew his weapon.
"Stay behind me."
He entered first.
Maya followed.
The hidden room smelled of paper, cedar, and dust.
That same cologne.
A desk stood in the center.
Metal filing cabinets lined the walls.
Several modern monitors sat beside equipment that had clearly been installed recently.
Jonathan switched on a lamp.
Maya stopped breathing.
Photographs covered one entire wall.
Ethan leaving college.
Ethan at a restaurant.
Ethan swimming.
Ethan asleep on a sofa.
Ethan arguing with Jonathan.
Ethan speaking to Maya in the kitchen.
Dozens of images.
Jonathan walked toward them.
"What the hell is this?"
Curtis examined the monitors.
"Security feeds."
"I told you."
Maya pointed.
Every hidden camera she had found appeared on the screen.
But there were more.
Many more.
Jonathan looked at his son's photographs.
Someone had been documenting Ethan's life for years.
Maya approached a filing cabinet.
Labels were arranged alphabetically.
Ashcroft, Catherine.
Ashcroft, Daniel.
Ashcroft, Ethan.
Ashcroft, Jonathan.
Ashcroft, Julian.
Reed, Anna.
Maya froze.
Jonathan saw it.
"Open it."
Her hand shook as she pulled the drawer.
Inside was a single red folder.
She took it out.
ANNA REED.
The letters were printed neatly across the front.
Maya opened the folder.
Employee records.
Photographs.
Copies of phone bills.
A school photograph of Maya at age eight.
Her breath caught.
"They watched me."
Jonathan looked over her shoulder.
Maya turned another page.
A document was stamped confidential.
Subject demonstrated unauthorized access to medical storage.
Another.
Subject observed discussion between C.A. and J.A.
Another.
Termination recommendation denied.
Then the final page.
INCIDENT RESOLUTION.
Maya could barely see through her tears.
Jonathan took the paper.
His eyes scanned the lines.
His face darkened.
"What does it say?"
He did not answer.
"Jonathan."
He handed it to her.
Most of the text had been redacted.
Only one complete sentence remained.
Vehicle and bridge scenario approved.
Maya stared.
Curtis swore.
Jonathan looked sick.
"Someone murdered her."
Maya's voice cracked.
"They planned it here."
A sound came from the corridor.
Curtis spun.
Footsteps.
Running.
He rushed toward the hidden doorway.
A shadow crossed the linen room.
"Stop."
Curtis chased after it.
Jonathan moved toward Maya.
"Stay here."
"No."
"Maya."
"I'm not staying in this room alone."
They entered the corridor.
A crash sounded near the service stairs.
Curtis shouted.
Then another voice yelled.
Maya and Jonathan ran.
At the bottom of the first staircase landing they found Curtis pinning Briggs against the wall.
Briggs's face was bleeding.
A black bag lay on the floor.
Jonathan descended.
"What were you doing?"
Briggs looked at him.
"Nothing."
Curtis kicked the bag closer.
"Then you won't mind if we look."
He opened it.
Inside were three hard drives.
A passport.
Cash.
And a small amber bottle.
Maya's stomach turned.
Jonathan picked up the bottle.
"You recognize this?"
Maya nodded.
"It looks like the one Vivienne used."
Briggs laughed.
"You people have no idea what you're looking at."
Jonathan grabbed his jacket.
"Try me."
Briggs stared at him.
"Your mother has been poisoning people in this house longer than I've been alive."
Jonathan's face tightened.
Briggs smiled through the blood at his lip.
"And if you think Ethan is the target, you're already too late."
Maya stepped forward.
"What does that mean?"
Briggs looked directly at her.
"Ask Jonathan who inherits if Ethan dies."
Everyone turned toward him.
Jonathan released Briggs.
May you like
Maya watched his face.
For the first time since the party began, Jonathan Ashcroft looked afraid of a question.
