Chapter 6 - The Passage Beneath the Villa
The hidden passage ran behind the library wall and descended beneath the villa.
Karen had designed it years ago as a private security route. Only Karen, Margaret, and Arthur had known every entrance.
Elena carried the original trust documents beneath her sweater while Margaret guided Lily through the narrow corridor.
“Where is my mother?” Elena whispered.
“Inside the old guesthouse.”
“That building has been empty for years.”
“That is why Julian does not monitor it.”
They reached a steel door.
Margaret entered a code.
The guesthouse basement opened before them.
Karen stood beside a table covered with documents, photographs, and bank records.
For one second, no one moved.
Then Lily ran to her.
“Grandma!”
Karen dropped to her knees and caught her granddaughter.
Lily wrapped both arms around her neck.
“You came back.”
“I should have come sooner.”
Elena remained by the door.
She looked at her mother as though she were seeing someone returned from the dead.
Karen stood.
“Elena.”
“You knew?”
Karen’s face filled with pain.
“I suspected financial theft. I did not know what he was doing to you.”
“You left him in charge.”
“I left Daniel in charge.”
“That was the same thing.”
Karen accepted the accusation without defending herself.
“Yes.”
Elena removed the documents from beneath her sweater and placed them on the table.
“I found the original trust.”
Karen opened the folder.
Her eyes moved quickly across the pages.
“These are intact.”
“Can they stop Julian?”
“They can prove the trust transfer was fraudulent.”
“What about the company?”
Karen pointed toward the black ledger Elena had not been able to carry.
“The company records are in the safe too.”
Elena shook her head.
“Julian was inside the library. We couldn’t take everything.”
Karen looked at Margaret.
“We need the ledger.”
“I can return tonight,” Margaret said.
“No,” Lily interrupted. “Julian will watch the room.”
Karen looked at her granddaughter.
“You’re right.”
Lily removed the recorder and placed it on the table.
She played Daniel’s voice.
Then Julian’s plan to have Elena declared legally incapable.
Karen listened without interrupting.
When the recording ended, she walked toward the small window overlooking the villa.
“I gave Daniel everything his parents could not,” she said. “A home. An education. A place beside me.”
Elena crossed her arms.
“He wanted your chair, not your love.”
Karen turned.
“Doctor Halden arrives at two?”
“Yes.”
“He cannot legally declare you incapable during one private visit, but Julian does not need a valid evaluation. He only needs a document that appears valid long enough to take temporary control.”
“What do we do?”
“We let the doctor come.”
Elena stared at her.
“You want me to return?”
“I need Julian to believe he still controls the house.”
“And Lily?”
“She stays with me.”
“No,” Lily said.
All three women looked at her.
Lily held the recorder against her chest.
“Julian talks when I’m there because he thinks I don’t understand.”
Karen shook her head.
“You have already done enough.”
“If I don’t go back, he’ll know Mom found you.”
Elena knelt in front of her daughter.
“This isn’t a game.”
“I know.”
“You could be hurt.”
Lily looked toward Karen.
“Grandma says Westbrooks don’t leave people alone inside a storm.”
Karen remembered saying those words during a thunderstorm years earlier.
She closed her eyes briefly.
Then she took Lily’s hands.
“You will not take risks. You will not enter his office. You will not confront him.”
“I promise.”
Karen opened a small case.
Inside were three security transmitters.
She attached one beneath Lily’s cardigan, one beneath Elena’s collar, and one inside the stuffed rabbit.
“These are not tracking devices,” Karen said. “They are emergency triggers. Press twice and the villa will enter lockdown.”
Elena looked at the table.
“What happens after we obtain the ledger?”
“We confront him in front of witnesses.”
“Why not call the police now?”
“Because Daniel controls enough of the company’s legal structure to make Julian appear legitimate. If we move too early, Daniel will destroy the remaining evidence and claim Julian acted alone.”
Karen looked toward the villa.
“I want them together.”
At one fifty, Elena and Lily returned through the library passage.
Julian was waiting on the other side of the door.
He looked at the dust on Elena’s shoes.
“Where were you?”
“In the garden.”
“The cameras did not see you.”
“Then perhaps your cameras are not as powerful as you think.”
Julian stepped closer.
A doorbell sounded downstairs.
Doctor Halden had arrived.
May you like
Julian smiled.
“Perfect timing.”
