Chapter 6 - the car beneath the western terrace
Adrian’s helicopter reached the estate in eleven minutes.
To Nora, it felt like hours.
Security footage showed Celeste leaving the east guest suite through an internal maintenance passage that did not appear on the modern architectural plans.
The passage connected to the old nursery.
From there, Celeste had entered a service tunnel beneath the western terrace and reached a garage unused since Adrian’s father died.
A vintage black sedan was missing.
So was Oliver.
“She planned this route,” Detective Chen said as officers searched the property. “Probably years ago.”
Adrian stood before a wall of security monitors.
His face remained controlled, but his right hand was clenched so tightly that blood had left his knuckles.
“She cannot leave the country.”
“She may not intend to.”
Nora stared at the map of the estate.
A memory returned.
During her first week as a maid, Oliver had taken her to a hidden staircase behind the library. He said Celeste used it when she wanted to disappear.
At the bottom, they had found an old storage room containing dusty riding equipment and a child’s raincoat.
The coat had been wet.
It had not rained for several days.
“There is another exit,” Nora said.
Adrian looked at her.
“The tunnel does not end at the garage. It continues toward the river.”
They rushed to the library.
Behind a rotating shelf, narrow stone steps descended into darkness.
Adrian switched on the wall lights. Only every third bulb worked.
The storage room was exactly as Nora remembered it, but the riding equipment had been pushed aside.
A steel hatch stood open in the floor.
Detective Chen called for additional officers.
Nora did not wait.
She climbed down the ladder.
The tunnel beneath the room was cold and damp. Footprints marked the mud, one set belonging to an adult, the other to a child.
Oliver’s prints dragged at several points.
“She was pulling him,” Nora said.
Adrian followed beside her.
They emerged near the river, where an old boathouse leaned against the bank.
The missing sedan was parked inside.
Its doors were open.
Celeste and Oliver were gone.
A small motorboat had recently departed, leaving a broken line through the weeds.
Adrian pointed downstream.
“My family owns a hunting lodge three miles from here.”
Detective Chen called the river patrol while Adrian ordered a security team to approach by road.
Nora noticed something white caught beneath the boat ramp.
She reached down and found a torn piece of paper.
Oliver had drawn three figures in blue crayon.
A tall man.
A woman in a maid’s uniform.
A small boy holding both their hands.
At the bottom, he had written one word.
HOME.
Nora pressed the drawing against her chest.
“He left this for us.”
Adrian looked across the river.
“He believes we will find him.”
“We will.”
They took a police launch downstream.
The lodge appeared between the trees fifteen minutes later. It was a stone building with boarded windows and a private dock.
The motorboat was tied outside.
No movement showed behind the glass.
Detective Chen ordered everyone to remain low.
An officer called through a loudspeaker.
“Celeste Vale, come outside with your hands visible.”
No answer.
Nora heard something from inside.
A faint melody.
The lullaby she had sung to Oliver in the mansion.
She moved toward the door.
Detective Chen caught her shoulder. “Wait.”
“He is singing because he knows I’ll hear him.”
Adrian stood on Nora’s other side.
“We go together.”
The front door was unlocked.
Inside, the lodge smelled of dust and old smoke.
A phone rested on the dining table, playing Nora’s recorded voice. Celeste had taken the recording from Oliver’s tablet.
It was a trap.
A door slammed behind them.
Smoke began pouring from the kitchen.
Adrian tried the entrance.
Locked.
Detective Chen shouted for the officers outside to break the windows.
Nora covered her mouth and searched the room.
On the far wall, Oliver had drawn a crescent moon in the dust.
An arrow pointed downward.
“There’s a cellar.”
They found the door beneath a rug.
Adrian pulled it open.
Oliver was sitting on the steps, his wrists loosely tied with a silk scarf. He was frightened but unharmed.
Nora rushed to him.
“Mommy.”
This time, she did not hesitate.
“I’m here.”
She untied him and held him tightly.
“Where is Celeste?” Adrian asked.
Oliver pointed toward a second cellar door.
“She said she was going to meet the doctor.”
Detective Chen opened the door.
A tunnel led from the cellar toward the forest.
At its entrance lay Celeste’s purple satin coat.
Inside the pocket was a train ticket issued under another name.
The destination was a small town near the Canadian border.
Departure time: 12:40 p.m.
Adrian checked his watch.
They had twenty-three minutes.
Detective Chen radioed the station police.
Nora carried Oliver outside as firefighters entered the lodge. The smoke had come from a controlled device, designed to delay them rather than destroy the building.
Celeste had not wanted them dead.
She had wanted time.
As Adrian wrapped Oliver in his coat, the boy reached into his pocket.
“She gave me this.”
May you like
He handed Adrian a small black flash drive.
“She said you would understand why she took me after you watched it.”
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