Chapter 2 - THE DOOR BEHIND THE BOOKCASE
Julian had lived in the mansion for nine years.
He knew every bedroom.
Every guest suite.
Every cellar.
Every staircase.
Or so he had believed.
"There is no room above my office."
Clara looked at him.
"Yes, there is."
Julian stared at her.
Sienna suddenly turned toward the stairs.
Julian saw it.
"Don't move."
She froze.
Eleanor's jaw tightened.
"Julian, your wife is confused."
Clara's voice strengthened.
"No, I'm not."
Julian walked toward her.
"Show me."
They descended together.
Nobody spoke.
The remaining guests crowded the entrance hall while security guards stood beside the locked doors.
Nathan held his phone up.
"This is unlawful imprisonment."
Marcus answered calmly.
"The gate isn't preventing emergency services from entering or you from contacting authorities. Mr. Hayes has requested everyone remain while a suspected destruction of security records is investigated."
Nathan scoffed.
Julian ignored him.
Clara led Julian toward his study.
His office occupied the western corner of the mansion, beneath a two-story library.
She didn't enter.
Instead she stopped beside a narrow corridor lined with portraits.
At the end stood a massive mahogany bookcase.
Clara pointed.
"There."
Julian frowned.
"That's built into the wall."
"No."
She reached beneath the bottom shelf.
Her fingers searched.
Click.
The entire bookcase shifted half an inch.
Julian stared.
Clara pulled.
A hidden door opened.
Cold air drifted from darkness.
Nobody behind them made a sound.
Julian stepped through.
A narrow staircase climbed upward.
Small recessed lights came on automatically.
At the top was another door.
Julian touched the handle.
Locked.
Sienna said sharply, "Don't."
Everyone turned toward her.
She realized her mistake instantly.
Julian looked at his sister.
"Why?"
Sienna said nothing.
Julian held out his hand toward Marcus.
"Key set."
Marcus handed him the estate master keys.
None worked.
Julian stepped backward.
"Open it."
Marcus's security officer moved forward with a compact pry tool.
Eleanor's voice changed.
"Julian."
He ignored her.
"Julian, don't."
The tool slid beside the lock.
Metal groaned.
Clara stood very still.
One sharp crack.
The door opened.
The room beyond was windowless.
Julian entered.
And stopped.
There was a desk.
Three filing cabinets.
A computer.
A wall covered in photographs.
Photographs of Clara.
Clara entering the mansion.
Clara leaving a grocery store.
Clara meeting a woman at a coffee shop.
Clara walking through downtown Chicago.
Clara visiting a cemetery.
Clara sitting alone in her car.
Dates had been written beneath several photographs.
Julian felt something cold move through him.
"What the hell is this?"
He approached the wall.
One photograph showed Clara speaking to a middle-aged man outside an office building.
Someone had written beneath it:
CONTACT WITH HENRY MORROW - 12 MINUTES.
Another:
PRIVATE CALL - 8:43 P.M.
Another:
BANK VISIT - SAFE DEPOSIT ACCESS.
Julian turned toward Clara.
She looked ashamed.
Not guilty.
Ashamed.
As though being watched were somehow her failure.
"Who did this?"
She whispered, "Your mother."
Eleanor stood in the doorway.
"That's ridiculous."
Clara pointed to the desk.
"The black notebook."
Julian opened the top drawer.
Empty.
Clara went pale.
"It was there."
"When?"
"Yesterday."
Sienna muttered something.
Julian turned.
"What did you say?"
"Nothing."
Marcus entered.
"Sir."
He held up a small electronic device.
"This computer is warm."
Julian stared.
"Someone used it tonight."
Marcus examined the tower.
"Hard drive has been removed."
The room fell silent.
Julian looked at his mother.
Eleanor didn't blink.
"You've been monitoring my wife?"
Eleanor's face became almost pitying.
"We were protecting you."
"From what?"
"From her."
Julian laughed once.
There was no amusement in it.
"Explain."
Eleanor looked directly at Clara.
"Tell him."
Clara said nothing.
Eleanor stepped forward.
"Tell your husband why you were meeting Henry Morrow."
Julian looked at Clara.
"Who's Henry Morrow?"
Clara closed her eyes.
May you like
Eleanor answered.
"The federal investigator who has spent three years trying to destroy our family."
