Chapter 4: The Room Behind the Wall
Lennox slammed the basement door.
The deadbolt clicked.
For a second, nobody moved.
Then Terrence rushed toward it.
“Lennox! Open the door!””
She stood on the other side.
“You should have listened to me.””
Terrence hit the door with his palm.
“Open it!””
I stared at the brass key in my hand.
My father's warning suddenly felt less like an old man's paranoia and more like a countdown.
I pulled out my phone.
No signal.
Of course.
The basement had always been terrible for reception.
I walked toward the small basement window.
It was too narrow to climb through.
“Mom,” Terrence said, breathing hard, “there's another way out.””
I turned.
“Where?””
He pointed behind the old workbench.
“There.””
I moved it aside.
Dust filled the air.
Behind it was a section of wall I had never noticed before.
A narrow wooden door.
No handle.
Only a keyhole.
I looked at the brass key.
Terrence swallowed.
“That's why she wanted the cabinet.””
I inserted the key.
It turned.
The door opened inward with a long, reluctant groan.
Behind it was a narrow room.
Not a closet.
A room.
Shelves lined the walls. Metal boxes sat beneath them. Old photographs were stacked in neat piles.
And on the back wall was a large steel safe.
Terrence whispered, “Oh my God.””
I stepped inside.
“Did you know this was here?””
“No.””
“Then how did you know there was another way out?””
He hesitated.
“I saw the door once.””
“When?””
“Years ago.””
“Why didn't you tell me?””
He looked ashamed.
“Because Dad told me never to.””
I stared at him.
“My father told you?””
“When I was seventeen.””
That made no sense.
My father had died when Terrence was twenty-seven.
“Why would Dad tell you about this and not me?””
Terrence looked at the safe.
“He said you'd understand when you needed to.””
I walked toward it.
A small brass plate was attached to the front.
*MARGARET HAYES — EXECUTOR*
My fingers went numb.
“Executor of what?””
Terrence shook his head.
“I don't know.””
A noise came from outside the room.
Lennox.
She was pounding on the basement door.
“Margaret!””
I ignored her.
“Terrence, step back.””
He did.
I touched the safe.
There was another keyhole.
I inserted the brass key.
It clicked.
The safe door opened.
Inside were three thick folders, a flash drive, several bank statements, and a small black notebook.
I picked up the first folder.
The label read:
*RAYMOND HAYES — TRUST*
I looked at Terrence.
“Uncle Raymond?””
He nodded.
I opened it.
The first page was a legal document dated twenty-three years earlier.
I read slowly.
Then I reached the section describing the beneficiaries.
My name was there.
So was Terrence's.
But Lennox's name wasn't.
A sharp bang came from the basement.
“Margaret!”” Lennox screamed.
“Open this door!””
Terrence moved toward the exit.
“No.””
I grabbed his sleeve.
“Wait.””
I turned another page.
My father's handwriting appeared in the margin.
*She will come for this eventually.*
My breath caught.
“Who?””
Terrence stared at the page.
Then his face went white.
“Mom…”
“What?””
He pointed to a name printed on the next document.
*LENNOX PRICE.*
“She wasn't supposed to know about this,” he whispered.
Another bang shook the basement door.
Then Lennox stopped shouting.
The silence was worse.
Terrence looked toward the door.
“She knows we're in here.””
I closed the folder.
“How?””
A faint sound came through the wall.
Not pounding.
Not shouting.
A phone ringing.
Terrence pulled his phone from his pocket.
The screen was dark.
The ringing continued.
Then I realized it wasn't coming from his phone.
It was coming from somewhere inside the hidden room.
We both turned toward the shelves.
Behind the steel safe, an old telephone began ringing.
May you like
And when I picked it up, a man's voice said my name.
“Margaret, if you're hearing this, your son has already betrayed you.””
