Chapter 5 - The Locked Basement Door
Daniel's anger was quiet.
That made it dangerous.
He picked up the ruined document packet.
Looked at the ink spreading across the page.
Then looked at Claire.
"You think this is funny?"
"No."
Margaret rushed toward the papers.
"Do you know what these cost to prepare?"
Claire turned toward the foyer again.
Daniel stepped in front of her.
"I said we're leaving when we're finished."
Claire raised her voice.
"Move."
Diane whispered.
"Claire, please."
Claire looked at her mother.
"If you want to help me, open the door."
Diane did not move.
Claire headed toward the kitchen instead.
Margaret followed.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"Out the back."
Daniel caught up.
Claire reached the back door.
Locked.
The key was not in the deadbolt.
Claire turned.
Daniel held it.
"You removed the key?"
"It's an old lock."
"Give it to me."
"No."
Claire grabbed a heavy ceramic bowl from the counter.
Margaret backed away.
Daniel raised his hands.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm opening the window."
She moved toward the glass patio door.
Daniel's face hardened.
"Put that down."
Claire lifted the bowl.
"If I have to break my way out, I will."
Diane suddenly stepped forward.
"Claire, stop."
"Stay away from me."
Diane began sobbing.
"You don't understand what he's dealing with."
Claire stared at her.
"What he's dealing with?"
"The debt."
Daniel looked sharply at Diane.
Claire heard it.
"Debt?"
Diane covered her mouth.
Daniel swore under his breath.
Claire lowered the bowl slightly.
"What debt?"
Margaret snapped.
"That's none of your concern."
"I'm his wife."
"Apparently only when money is involved."
Claire laughed.
"You are literally trying to make me sign financial documents."
Daniel reached toward the bowl.
Claire pulled it back.
"Don't."
A sound came from upstairs.
Footsteps.
Small ones.
Everyone froze.
Claire looked toward the ceiling.
"Who is here?"
Margaret answered too quickly.
"No one."
Then Sophie appeared at the kitchen doorway.
The seven-year-old wore a pink sweater and held a small backpack.
She stared at the adults.
"Grandma Margaret?"
Margaret forced a smile.
"Sweetheart, go upstairs."
Claire looked from Sophie to Daniel.
"Why is she here?"
Daniel said nothing.
Claire's stomach dropped.
"Is Vanessa here too?"
Margaret stepped toward Sophie.
"Go upstairs."
Sophie looked at Claire.
"Are you Daniel's friend?"
Claire almost could not speak.
Daniel answered.
"Yes."
Claire stared at him.
Sophie nodded uncertainly.
"My aunt is coming later."
The room went silent.
Claire looked at Daniel.
"You brought her here?"
Daniel's jaw tightened.
"Vanessa is coming at four."
Margaret said sharply.
"Daniel."
But the truth was already out.
Claire looked at the kitchen clock.
Three thirty-seven.
Twenty-three minutes.
Daniel moved toward Sophie.
"Upstairs."
The girl obeyed.
Claire immediately turned back to him.
"You planned this."
Daniel lowered his voice.
"We needed you to sign before she arrived."
"So she could walk into this house believing your wife had disappeared?"
"She believes we're separated."
"We're not."
"We will be."
"Then divorce me."
Daniel's mouth tightened.
"It's complicated."
"No. Fraud is complicated. Divorce is paperwork."
Margaret spoke.
"If you refuse to cooperate, Daniel could lose everything."
Claire looked at her.
"Why?"
Again, no one answered.
Claire's eyes moved to the packet.
Then she realized.
The trust.
The debt.
Daniel needed Margaret's house transferred to him.
He probably needed to borrow against it.
And Claire's marital interest was blocking something.
"What did you do?"
Daniel stepped closer.
"Sign the papers."
"What did you do with our money?"
"Sign."
"Where is the forty-eight thousand?"
His silence answered.
Claire felt sick.
"It's gone."
Diane whispered.
"Claire."
She stared at Daniel.
"You lost it."
Daniel rubbed his face.
"It was an investment."
"How much?"
"It doesn't matter."
"How much?"
Margaret snapped.
"Enough."
Claire looked at her.
"Enough for what?"
Daniel finally said it.
"One hundred and eighty-six thousand."
Claire nearly laughed because the number was too large to understand.
"Our savings was forty-eight."
"I borrowed."
"Against what?"
Silence.
Claire knew.
"Our house?"
Daniel looked away.
Claire dropped the ceramic bowl.
It hit the floor and shattered.
The sound made Sophie gasp somewhere upstairs.
Claire walked toward Daniel.
"You borrowed against our house."
"I had a plan."
"You gambled our house."
"It wasn't gambling."
"Then where is the money?"
Daniel said nothing.
Claire turned toward the basement door.
A second exit.
The basement had an exterior bulkhead door near the laundry room.
She ran.
Daniel followed.
Claire pulled open the basement door and rushed down the stairs.
She reached the bottom.
The exterior bulkhead door was locked with a heavy slide bolt.
From the outside.
Claire turned.
Daniel stood three steps above her.
Margaret and Diane appeared behind him.
Claire stared at the locked exit.
Then at Daniel.
"You locked that before I arrived."
He did not deny it.
Claire backed into the laundry room.
The two washing machines stood side by side.
Exposed pipes ran along the ceiling.
Storage shelves covered one wall.
And beside them was the old metal laundry chute.
Claire looked around for anything she could use.
Daniel descended another step.
"Stop acting like we're hurting you."
Claire almost screamed.
"You locked me in a house."
"We're talking."
"You're holding me here until I sign."
"You can leave whenever this is resolved."
Claire stared at him.
"That's called coercion."
Margaret stepped down.
"That's called family."
Claire reached for a detergent bottle.
Daniel moved.
Claire backed away.
Her heel struck the open laundry hamper beneath the chute.
The metal panel behind it swung inward.
Claire lost her balance.
Daniel reached for her.
His hand caught her shoulder.
Claire twisted away.
The narrow chute door gave way beneath her weight.
May you like
For one terrifying second, she felt nothing beneath her.
Then she dropped.
