Chapter 3 - The Door Beneath the Stairs)
The basement archive had no traditional entrance.
Ethan's grandfather built Mercer House during an era when wealthy families believed secrets deserved architecture.
Behind the grand staircase was a narrow service corridor.
At the end of that corridor stood a paneled wall.
Ethan pressed his palm against the third wooden panel.
It opened.
Lily's eyes widened.
"That's cool."
Under different circumstances, Ethan might have smiled.
Instead, he switched on the stairway light.
"Stay upstairs."
Lily immediately looked at Elena.
"No."
Elena crouched.
"Lily."
"If you go, I go."
Victoria sighed.
"Wonderful."
Ethan turned.
"You're not coming."
Victoria laughed.
"You think I'm staying upstairs alone while whoever activated those cameras is inside the house?"
Ethan had no answer.
His security chief still hadn't arrived.
The landline was dead.
Cell service had returned, but every call to the security office went straight to voicemail.
Someone had disabled more than cameras.
Elena whispered, "We stay together."
So they descended.
The stairway ended beneath the house.
Concrete walls replaced polished wood.
Old plumbing ran across the ceiling.
At the far end stood a steel door.
Room 17.
Ethan stared at the brass key.
"My father supposedly emptied this place."
Victoria remained several feet behind them.
"He lied."
Ethan glanced back.
"How would you know?"
"I've lived here four years."
"That wasn't my question."
Victoria didn't answer.
Elena inserted the key.
The lock clicked.
The steel door opened.
Inside were shelves.
Hundreds of boxes.
Ethan stopped breathing.
Every box was labeled with a year.
Some were more than thirty years old.
Others had recent dates.
2025.
2026.
Someone had been adding records after Ethan's father died.
Elena stepped toward a table.
A photograph sat beneath a glass paperweight.
It showed Elena and Ethan seven years earlier.
They were leaving a restaurant.
Elena was visibly pregnant.
Ethan picked it up.
"I never saw you like this."
"I didn't know I was pregnant until after I left."
"But whoever took this knew."
Elena turned the photograph over.
A date had been written on the back.
It was three weeks before she disappeared.
Victoria remained near the door.
Ethan watched her.
"Did you take this?"
"No."
"You knew Elena was pregnant."
"No."
Elena stared at her.
"At the front door, you asked me where I got Lily."
Victoria looked away.
"Because she looks like Ethan."
"You barely looked at her."
No answer.
Ethan opened the envelope.
Elena reached for him.
"Wait."
But the seal was already broken.
Inside were three pages.
The first was written by his father.
Ethan,
If this reaches you, then Elena has returned, which means Samuel succeeded where I failed.
You will want answers immediately.
I cannot give you all of them safely.
The first truth is simple.
Elena did not leave you willingly.
I made her leave.
Ethan sat down.
His vision blurred.
Elena covered her mouth.
Victoria closed her eyes.
Ethan continued.
I believed removing Elena from your life would protect you both. I was wrong. By the time I understood how badly I had been manipulated, Elena had disappeared beyond my reach.
If she has returned with the child, you must protect them.
Do not trust the story you were given.
Do not trust the police file concerning Daniel Pike.
And most importantly, do not assume the person responsible stopped watching this family after my death.
Ethan lowered the page.
"Daniel Pike."
Elena whispered, "The man who threatened me."
"He died."
Victoria shook her head.
"No."
Everyone turned.
She immediately realized what she'd said.
Ethan stepped toward her.
"What do you mean no?"
Victoria backed away.
"I meant... you don't know what happened."
"You just said he didn't die."
"I didn't say that."
"You did."
Lily suddenly pointed toward the shelves.
"Mom."
A faint sound came from behind the boxes.
Click.
Click.
Click.
Ethan grabbed a heavy flashlight.
"Stay back."
He moved around the shelf.
Behind it was another door.
Smaller.
Recently installed.
A red light glowed above the handle.
Victoria whispered, "Don't open that."
Ethan turned.
"Why?"
"Because your father didn't build it."
"Who did?"
Victoria stared at Lily.
"I don't know."
Ethan pulled the handle.
The door opened.
Cold blue light spilled into the archive.
Inside was a modern surveillance room.
Sixteen monitors covered the walls.
Some displayed empty rooms throughout Mercer House.
The library.
The kitchen.
The foyer.
The driveway.
Elena's car.
Other screens showed locations outside the property.
A school playground.
A grocery store.
An apartment building.
Elena moved closer.
Then screamed.
Every outside camera had been following her.
One monitor showed Elena dropping Lily at school.
Another showed Lily walking beside a teacher.
Another showed their old apartment.
Dates stretched back three years.
Ethan stared at Victoria.
"You knew."
Tears appeared in her eyes.
"You need to understand something."
Elena grabbed her.
"You've been watching my daughter?"
"No."
"Then who?"
Victoria looked at Ethan.
"If I tell you, everything your father did to protect you becomes useless."
Ethan's voice became ice.
"My father stole seven years from me."
Victoria whispered, "He was trying to stop Daniel."
"You said Daniel was alive."
She shook her head.
"I said nothing."
One of the monitors suddenly flickered.
A live image appeared.
A man stood outside Mercer House.
Tall.
Gray coat.
Face partly hidden.
He looked directly into the camera.
Then raised a phone.
The surveillance-room phone rang.
Nobody moved.
It rang again.
Ethan picked it up.
"Who is this?"
A man's voice answered.
"Put Victoria on."
Ethan's blood turned cold.
He knew that voice.
May you like
Though he hadn't heard it in seven years.
Daniel Pike.
