Chapter 4 - The Tunnel in the Northern Field
The drainage tunnel was narrower than Mia remembered.
Water reached her ankles, freezing her feet through her shoes. Harper clung to her neck and buried her face against Mia’s shoulder. Adrian led them with a flashlight taken from the stable wall.
The tunnel curved beneath the field for almost half a mile.
Behind them, voices echoed.
Vivienne’s men had found the entrance.
“Faster,” Adrian said.
Mia slipped on wet stone.
Adrian caught her elbow.
She pulled away.
“Do not touch me.”
“Then do not fall.”
“You brought this to my home.”
“I came because Nathan contacted me.”
“He said you contacted Dominic.”
“I did.”
“Why?”
Adrian did not answer.
The tunnel forked.
The left passage continued toward the road. The right descended deeper beneath the estate.
Adrian turned right.
Mia stopped.
“The road is left.”
“The road is being watched.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I would watch it.”
A flashlight beam appeared behind them.
Harper whimpered.
Mia followed Adrian down the right passage.
The ceiling lowered. Rusted pipes ran along the walls. After thirty yards, the tunnel ended at an iron gate.
Adrian removed a key from beneath his shirt.
Mia stared.
“You have been here before.”
“I lived here.”
“In the manor?”
“Under it.”
He unlocked the gate.
Beyond lay a stone chamber containing an old cot, shelves of canned food, and a wooden table.
Children’s drawings covered one wall.
Horses.
Trees.
A black house beneath a red sky.
Mia set Harper on the cot.
“Who drew these?”
“I did.”
Adrian lit an oil lamp.
“When my mother died, Julian brought me to Blackthorne. I was five. He kept me in these rooms for seven years.”
Mia looked at the small cot.
“You were imprisoned here?”
“He called it protection.”
“From whom?”
“Vivienne.”
Harper looked up.
“Is she the bad grandmother?”
Adrian crouched.
“Yes.”
Mia pulled Harper closer.
“Do not talk to her.”
Adrian stood.
“She deserves the truth.”
“She is six.”
“So was I.”
The voices in the tunnel grew louder.
Adrian crossed to the wall and pressed one of the stones. A narrow door opened.
“Where does that lead?” Mia asked.
“To the old cellar beneath the manor.”
“We would be going back.”
“Vivienne expects us to escape the estate. She will search the roads and woods. She will not expect us beneath her feet.”
Mia looked at the tunnel behind them.
Light flickered around the curve.
They had no choice.
Adrian guided them through the hidden door and closed it.
The passage beyond was barely wide enough for one person. Mia smelled dust and old earth.
Harper whispered, “Mommy, where is Daddy?”
“He is coming.”
Mia had to believe it.
They climbed a staircase carved inside the foundation. At the top, Adrian pushed open a panel behind a wine rack.
The basement was empty.
Cold fluorescent lights buzzed overhead.
Mia had entered the room many times, yet she had never noticed the panel.
Adrian moved toward the stairs.
Mia caught his sleeve.
“You said you contacted Dominic.”
“I sent a message to his private account.”
“When?”
“Two days ago.”
“Why has he not called?”
“Maybe he never received it.”
“Or maybe someone stopped him.”
Adrian looked toward the ceiling.
“Nathan controls the company security network. Vivienne controls Nathan.”
“Nathan is afraid of her.”
“He should be.”
“What does she want with Harper?”
Adrian looked at the child.
“The same thing Julian wanted with me.”
“An heir she can control?”
“More than that.”
Before he could explain, the basement door opened.
Mrs. Bell entered.
Her coat was torn. Blood stained her forehead.
Mia rushed toward her.
“You escaped.”
“Not for long.”
Mrs. Bell locked the door.
“Vivienne believes you reached the road. We have minutes.”
“Why did everyone tell us she died?”
“Because Dominic arranged it.”
Mia stared at her.
“Dominic knew?”
“He knew only part of it.”
Mrs. Bell lowered herself into a chair.
“Eight years ago, Vivienne attempted to remove Dominic from control of the company. She used medical records to claim he was mentally unstable. Nathan warned him. Dominic exposed enough of her crimes to force her into hiding.”
“Then why announce her death?”
“Dominic believed it would end the fight.”
Adrian laughed bitterly.
“Dominic always believed documents could end wars.”
Mia knelt beside Mrs. Bell.
“What does Vivienne want?”
Mrs. Bell looked at Harper.
“The child carries access.”
“To what?”
“To the sealed registry.”
Adrian turned sharply.
“You told me the registry had been destroyed.”
“I lied.”
“Where is it?”
Mrs. Bell reached inside her coat and removed a small brass cylinder.
“The portrait.”
Mia remembered the missing painting of Eleanor Blackthorne.
“The frame,” she said.
Mrs. Bell nodded.
“The registry is hidden inside it.”
“Nathan removed the painting.”
“Vivienne ordered him to.”
Adrian took the cylinder.
“What is this?”
“The key to the frame.”
A pounding shook the basement door.
Mrs. Bell rose.
“They found us.”
Mia looked around.
“Where can we hide Harper?”
Adrian moved the carpet aside, revealing the concealed hatch.
He opened it.
Below lay the underground cellar where he had spent his childhood.
Mia recoiled.
“No.”
“It connects to three passages.”
“You said Vivienne kept you there.”
“Julian kept me there. Vivienne did worse.”
The door shook again.
Wood cracked near the lock.
Adrian helped Harper onto the ladder.
Mia followed.
Mrs. Bell remained above.
“Come down,” Mia said.
“I have to lead them away.”
“You cannot.”
Mrs. Bell looked at Harper.
“Eleanor rode before dawn.”
Harper did not understand.
Mia did.
Mrs. Bell closed the hatch.
Darkness surrounded them.
From above came the crash of the basement door breaking open.
Vivienne’s voice followed.
“Where is my granddaughter?”
Mrs. Bell answered calmly.
“She returned without a shadow.”
Then came a single gunshot.
May you like
Harper screamed.
Mia covered her mouth and held her in the dark while footsteps crossed the floor above.
