Chapter 2 - The Room Clara Locked
Alex opened the closet.
Nothing.
Only clothes.
A shoe box.
A folded blanket.
He turned toward Lily.
“Who was coming?”
She shook her head.
“I don't know.”
“You must remember.”
“I heard Uncle Derek.”
Derek appeared behind the officers.
“Lily, stop.”
Alex turned.
“What were you doing outside this room?”
Derek swallowed.
“I came to help.”
“Help with what?”
“I heard the noise.”
“What noise?”
Derek said nothing.
Officer Reynolds stepped between them.
“Mr. Carter, I suggest everyone stays where we can see them.”
Alex looked back inside the closet.
Something bothered him.
The shelves were perfectly arranged.
Too perfectly.
He moved the blanket.
A narrow wooden panel appeared behind it.
Alex stared.
“What's that?”
Teresa’s voice came from the hallway.
“Nothing.”
Alex looked at her.
“You keep saying that.”
He pulled the panel.
It opened.
Behind it was a shallow compartment.
Inside sat an envelope.
His name was written across it.
ALEX.
His hands trembled.
He opened it.
There was one photograph.
Clara standing beside a black car.
The photograph had been taken at night.
Beside her stood a man Alex did not recognize.
On the back, Clara had written:
If I disappear, ask who owns the car.
Alex turned the photograph over again.
The man looked familiar.
He just couldn't place him.
Derek stared at the picture.
Alex noticed.
“You know him.”
“No.”
“You recognized him.”
“I didn't.”
“You did.”
Derek backed away.
Officer Reynolds took the photograph.
“We'll need this.”
Alex looked at Lily.
She was staring at the envelope.
“What else was in there?”
She whispered.
“Mommy said the second phone was hidden where Grandma would never look.”
Alex looked around.
“Where?”
Lily pointed toward the bedroom.
“The place Daddy never opens.”
Alex frowned.
His eyes landed on an old piano.
He walked toward it.
The piano had belonged to Clara’s mother.
He had never opened the bench.
He lifted the lid.
Inside were old sheet music books.
A small compartment had been built underneath.
Alex reached inside.
His fingers touched another phone.
He pulled it out.
The screen lit up.
One notification.
CLARA — 17 MISSED CALLS.
Alex stared.
The calls were all from the same number.
His own.
But the dates were from two days after Clara was supposedly dead.
Alex slowly looked toward Teresa.
“You said she died Monday.”
Teresa said nothing.
“Then why did she call me Tuesday?”
No one answered.
Alex pressed the number.
The call connected.
For several seconds, there was only silence.
Then breathing.
A woman's breathing.
Alex stopped.
“Clara?”
The line remained open.
Then a whisper.
“Alex…”
His knees almost gave out.
“Clara?”
A voice whispered again.
“Don't come looking for me.”
The call ended.
Alex stared at the screen.
Lily began crying.
Teresa covered her mouth.
May you like
And Derek whispered something nobody expected.
“She wasn't supposed to call.”
