Chapter 7 - The Second Fire
Victoria had not left the estate.
She had hidden beneath it.
Her voice came through the green-room speakers with perfect clarity.
“Marcus,” she said, “you always believed you were the cleverest person in the family.”
Marcus moved to the control panel.
“Where are you?”
“Somewhere you cannot reach.”
Smoke thickened near the ceiling.
Evelyn covered her mouth with her sleeve.
“You’re trying to burn the evidence,” she said.
“I already burned the evidence. Now I’m removing the people who misunderstood it.”
Marcus pulled at the green door.
Locked.
“The room has another exit,” Evelyn said.
“How do you know?”
“Noah survived.”
They searched behind the shelves and portrait.
The machine continued running.
“Emergency sequence,” Eleanor’s voice repeated. “Exit access requires paired identity.”
A small panel lit on the desk.
Two handprints glowed beneath the dust.
Marcus placed his palm on one.
Nothing happened.
Evelyn placed hers on the other.
The machine clicked.
“First identity unresolved,” Eleanor announced. “Second identity recognized.”
Marcus stared at Evelyn.
“It recognized you.”
“Evelyn Hart,” the machine said. “Guardian designation confirmed.”
A section of wall slid open.
Behind it, a low tunnel led into darkness.
Marcus grabbed the reel of film and black envelope before following her inside.
The wall began to close.
“Leave them,” Evelyn said.
“No.”
“They may be why Victoria is trying to kill us.”
“They may be why she killed everyone else.”
They crawled through the tunnel while smoke chased them.
The passage descended beneath the manor, then split in two.
A painted symbol marked the left branch.
A crown encircled by seven thorns.
The same symbol appeared on Noah’s key.
Marcus pointed right.
“That tunnel should lead toward the servants’ courtyard.”
“How do you know?”
“I studied the original foundation plans.”
“The plans that did not show the green room?”
“They showed drainage corridors.”
Evelyn looked toward the crowned symbol.
The machine’s message had said paired identity.
Eleanor had expected two specific people to escape together.
Perhaps Evelyn and Adrian.
Or Evelyn and someone pretending to be him.
She chose the left tunnel.
Marcus cursed but followed.
They emerged into an underground chamber lined with wine racks.
At the center stood a steel door.
It was already open.
Beyond it, a concrete passage led toward the south wall of the estate.
Fresh tire tracks marked the floor.
Victoria had used the underground route to reach the waiting sedan.
“She planned the escape,” Evelyn said.
Marcus examined the tracks.
“No. This passage has been used for years.”
They followed it until a siren sounded behind them.
The tunnel lights turned red.
Metal barriers dropped from the ceiling, separating them from the manor.
Victoria’s voice returned through hidden speakers.
“You still think this is about money.”
Marcus looked toward the nearest camera.
“What is it about?”
“Blood.”
The tunnel shook.
A controlled explosion collapsed the passage behind them.
Evelyn and Marcus ran.
The final steel door opened into the forest beyond the estate wall.
They stumbled into cold night air as the tunnel collapsed.
Police officers spotted them near the tree line.
Detective Cross arrived with her weapon drawn.
“Hands where I can see them!”
Marcus raised his hands.
Evelyn held up the file.
“Victoria was under the manor.”
Cross looked at Marcus.
“What is he doing here?”
“Saving my life.”
Marcus glanced at Evelyn.
“Temporarily.”
They were taken back to Ashcroft Hotel separately.
Charles met Evelyn in the lobby.
“Where is Noah?”
“In the suite with officers.”
“Is he safe?”
“He was until someone delivered another package.”
Evelyn’s heart stopped.
“What package?”
Charles led her upstairs.
On the dining table lay a white cardboard box.
Inside was a green child’s coat.
Noah stood across the room, staring at it.
“I’ve seen that coat,” he said.
“Where?” Evelyn asked.
“In the hidden-room film.”
Marcus, escorted by Detective Cross, entered behind her.
“You watched a film in the green room?” he asked.
Noah nodded.
“It showed two children running through the garden. A boy and a girl. The girl wore that coat.”
Evelyn looked at the old garment.
One sleeve had been repaired with yellow thread.
A memory struck her.
She was small.
Rain fell across a garden.
A dark-haired boy held her hand.
A woman shouted from the terrace.
Run, Evelyn.
She staggered.
Charles caught her.
“I wore this,” she whispered.
Noah stepped closer.
“There’s something in the pocket.”
Detective Cross searched it first.
She removed a miniature tape recorder.
When she pressed play, a man’s voice spoke.
“Evelyn, if you are hearing this, Victoria has found the guardian.”
The voice was unfamiliar to everyone except Marcus.
He went completely still.
“You know him,” Cross said.
Marcus stared at the recorder.
“That’s Robert Blackwood.”
The recording continued.
“Do not trust Charles. Do not trust the police. And whatever you do, do not allow Noah to reach his thirteenth birthday inside England.”
Charles looked as if he had been struck.
May you like
The final words came through heavy static.
“Because Noah Blackwood is not Charles’s son.”
