Chapter 5: The Secret Beneath the Floorboards
At 6:15 the next morning, I stood outside Emily's hospital room while two uniformed officers checked the corridor.
The overnight shift had brought little sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I heard Emily's words.
His first wife was supposed to be dead.
I had spent years learning to distinguish a threat from a boast. Ethan's statement sounded like neither. It sounded like a man who had accidentally revealed that the truth was much worse than the story everyone had been told.
Inside the room, Emily was speaking with a hospital social worker. She had agreed to remain under protection while the doctors monitored her head injury.
I was grateful for that.
But I wasn't going to pretend a locked hospital door could solve everything.
Marcus approached carrying two paper cups of coffee and a folder.
“The team has a warrant,” he said.
“They're going to the estate at eight.””
“Any word from Claire?””
“Nothing since the call.””
“And Daniel Mercer?””
He shook his head.
“We located the number he called from. It belongs to a prepaid phone. A patrol unit checked the registered area, but the device was gone.””
“Any sign of a struggle?””
“Not yet.””
I took the coffee, though I didn't drink it.
“What about the cottage?””
“County records are inconsistent. The building was reported demolished, but utility records show intermittent power use. We're checking who authorized the service.””
I looked toward Emily's door.
“Can I accompany the team?””
Marcus considered the question.
“Not as an investigator. But you may accompany Emily if she needs to identify something once the scene is secured and the team approves it.””
“That's reasonable.””
At eight, Dana called from the estate.
Her voice was clipped.
“We found the guesthouse.””
“Anything?””
“The kitchen floor has been renovated. There are signs of a concealed compartment beneath the pantry, but the boards are newer than the surrounding floor.””
“Was the compartment empty?””
“Not entirely.””
I gripped the phone.
“What did you find?””
“A metal box. Two passports, several photographs, and a stack of documents. The evidence team is photographing everything before moving it.””
“Whose passports?””
“Claire Bennett's. And a woman named Rachel Morgan.””
Dana paused.
“My sister used that surname before she disappeared.””
I closed my eyes briefly.
“Any sign of Rachel herself?””
“Not in the guesthouse. But we've found a narrow passage behind a false wall. It leads toward the old caretaker's cottage.””
“The building listed as demolished?””
“Exactly.””
A door slammed in the background.
Then Dana said, “Victoria, I need to go. Someone from the Prescott legal team has arrived, and he's demanding to see the warrant.””
“Don't let him distract you.””
“He won't.””
The call ended.
I went back into Emily's room and sat beside her.
She looked more alert than she had the previous evening, although pain still pinched her face whenever she moved.
“Did they find it?”” she asked.
“The box. And Claire's passport.””
Emily exhaled.
“Then I wasn't imagining things.””
“No, sweetheart. You weren't.””
She stared at the window.
“Ethan used to tell me that if I ever accused his family of anything, everyone would say I was unstable. He said no one would believe a woman who couldn't keep her own marriage together.””
I pulled my chair closer.
“People can lie about you, Emily. That doesn't make their lies true.””
“But what if they have more money? Better lawyers? Friends in every office?””
“Then we make sure the evidence speaks louder than their money.””
She gave me a tired smile.
“That's what you always told me when I was little.””
I remembered the girl who used to sit at our kitchen table, drawing crooked stars on scrap paper while I finished reports. She had once asked me whether being brave meant never feeling afraid.
I'd told her no.
It meant doing the right thing while your hands were shaking.
Now she was doing exactly that.
At 10:40, Dana returned to the hospital with Marcus and a new investigator. She looked exhausted.
“We recovered a small digital recorder from the compartment,” she said.
“The forensic team is processing it.””
“Anything useful?””
“We heard a woman's voice. The recording is damaged, but one phrase is clear.””
“What phrase?””
Dana looked at Emily.
“‘If they move me tonight, tell Dana the blue room is real.’”
Emily's face went white.
“The blue room,” she whispered.
Dana pulled a chair beside the bed.
“What does that mean?””
“In the guesthouse, there's a hallway that ends at a painted door. Ethan told me it led to an old storage room. But I heard people inside.””
“People?”” Marcus asked.
“Sometimes. Once, I heard a woman crying. Another time, I heard someone asking for water.””
Dana's fingers tightened around her notebook.
“Did you ever see anyone enter?””
Emily nodded slowly.
“Margaret did. She used a key she kept on a chain around her neck.””
“Was the door blue?””
“I couldn't tell. The hallway was dark, and the door was covered with a gray sheet.””
Marcus stood.
“We need to tell the team immediately.””
Dana was already making the call.
Minutes later, the investigative team reported that the hidden passage ended at a locked interior door. They had secured the area and were waiting for additional specialists before entering.
No one would risk damaging evidence or endangering a person who might be inside.
At noon, the hospital's security supervisor arrived with a message.
A man had been waiting near the staff entrance asking for Emily.
He had identified himself as Ethan Prescott.
Security had refused him access.
“He said he wanted to bring his wife flowers,” the supervisor explained.
“But when we asked him to leave his name and wait for an escort, he became aggressive.””
“What did he say?”” I asked.
The supervisor opened his notebook.
“He said, ‘Tell Colonel Hart she has until sunset to return what belongs to my family.’”
Emily heard him from the bed.
She began trembling.
I moved beside her.
“He can't take you anywhere.””
“He'll find a way,” she whispered.
“He always does.””
My phone rang.
It was Dana.
“We opened the blue room,” she said.
I stood.
“What did you find?””
There was a pause long enough to make my pulse pound.
“Personal belongings. Blankets, medication, food containers, and a bed. It appears someone may have been staying there recently.””
“Was anyone inside?””
“No. But there's something else.””
Her voice dropped.
“On the wall, someone wrote a message in permanent marker.””
“What message?””
Dana took a breath.
“‘Claire was here. Rachel is next.’”
I looked at Emily.
She was staring at the door as though she expected Ethan to walk through it at any moment.
“Dana,” I said, “you need to find Rachel before tonight.””
“We're trying.””
“Then let us help.””
Before she could answer, another voice came through the phone.
Marcus.
“Agent Brooks, we found a camera hidden behind the wall. It appears to have been connected to a remote system.””
Dana returned to the line.
“Victoria, the camera is still powered. Someone may have been watching the room.””
“Can you trace the connection?””
“We're working on it.””
Then a technician shouted something in the background.
Dana's voice changed.
“Wait. We have a live transmission.””
I held my breath.
“What are you seeing?””
She didn't answer immediately.
Instead, I heard her say, “Freeze the image. Zoom in on the person at the door.””
A few seconds passed.
Then Dana whispered, “Oh, my God.””
“What is it?””
“The camera just picked up someone entering the hidden passage.””
“Who?””
May you like
Her answer made my blood run cold.
“Margaret Prescott.””
