Chapter 2: The Woman Inside
“Vanessa!””
I chased her into the hallway.
She reached the stairs before I caught her wrist.
“Let go!””
“Give me the code.””
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.””
I pulled her back toward the storage room.
Lily stood frozen in the doorway.
“Daddy?””
“It’s okay, sweetheart.””
It wasn’t.
Nothing about this was okay.
I looked at Vanessa.
“The code. Now.””
“I don’t know it.””
“You covered a steel door inside my house with drywall, Vanessa.””
“I didn’t!””
“Then who did?””
She stopped struggling.
Her eyes moved toward Lily.
That frightened me.
“Don’t look at her,” I said.
“Daniel, listen to me.””
“Give me the code.””
“If you open that door, you’re going to destroy everything.””
I stared at her.
“Everything?””
“Our family.””
From behind the steel came three weak knocks.
Lily started crying.
I released Vanessa and pulled out my phone.
She saw the screen.
“Who are you calling?””
“The police.””
She knocked the phone from my hand.
It hit the floor.
I stared at her.
She stared back.
That was her second big mistake.
I grabbed the phone and dialed.
Vanessa bolted.
I didn’t follow her this time.
I gave the dispatcher our address, explained that someone appeared to be trapped inside a concealed room, and told them to send police and paramedics immediately.
Then I returned to the keypad.
Four digits.
I tried Vanessa’s birthday.
Red light.
Our wedding anniversary.
Red.
The last four digits of her phone.
Red.
“Daddy.””
Lily was staring at the keypad.
“What?””
“I saw her.””
“Saw who?””
“Vanessa.””
“Doing what?””
“Putting numbers.””
My heart jumped.
“When?””
“Yesterday.””
I crouched beside her.
“Can you remember them?””
Lily squeezed her eyes shut.
“She pushed this one.””
She touched 1.
“Then…”
Her finger moved to 9.
“Then 8.””
She hesitated.
“And 7.””
1987.
I entered it.
BEEP.
Green.
The lock released.
I grabbed the edge of the steel door.
“Stay behind me.””
I pulled.
Cold air rolled out.
The smell hit next.
Sweat.
Dust.
Stale water.
Something chemical.
A narrow staircase descended into darkness.
This wasn’t simply a hidden closet.
Someone had constructed a room beneath the mansion.
“Hello?”” I shouted.
A weak cough answered.
I switched on my phone flashlight.
“Daddy, I’m coming.””
“No.””
Lily’s face crumpled.
“Stay right here. Police are coming.””
I started down.
Each step made my anger grow.
There were twelve stairs.
At the bottom was a narrow concrete corridor.
A single bulb flickered overhead.
And at the end—
a woman was sitting against the wall.
Her wrists were secured in front of her with plastic restraints.
Her clothes were dirty.
Her dark hair hung across her face.
An empty bottle lay beside her.
“Jesus Christ.””
She lifted her head.
When she saw me, she started crying.
“You’re Daniel?””
I stopped.
She knew my name.
“Yes.””
“Daniel Mercer?””
“Yes.””
She closed her eyes.
“Thank God.””
I rushed over and used a utility knife from a shelf to cut the restraints.
“Who are you?””
Instead of answering, she grabbed my sleeve.
“Where’s Lily?””
My blood ran cold.
“How do you know my daughter?””
“Is she safe?””
“Who are you?””
“Please tell me she’s safe.””
“She’s upstairs.””
The woman began sobbing.
“She found me.””
“What?””
“Yesterday. Through the vent. I heard her playing.””
My eyes moved along the concrete wall.
Near the ceiling was a tiny ventilation opening.
“I called to her,” the woman continued.
“I told her to find you.””
Footsteps sounded upstairs.
For one second I thought it was the police.
Then Vanessa appeared at the top of the stairs.
The woman recoiled.
“No.””
Vanessa stared down at us.
Her face was strangely calm now.
“Daniel,” she said, “you have no idea what you’ve done.””
I stood between them.
“What did you do to her?””
“She broke into our home.””
The woman laughed bitterly.
“Is that what you told him?””
“Shut up, Rachel.””
Rachel.
The name hit something in my memory.
I had seen it somewhere.
“Daniel,” Rachel whispered, “ask her about March eighteenth.””
Vanessa’s eyes sharpened.
“Don’t.””
“What happened March eighteenth?””
Rachel looked directly at me.
“The day your first wife died.””
Everything inside me stopped.
My first wife, Claire, had died seven years earlier.
Car accident.
Rainy highway.
Police report.
Closed case.
Vanessa had entered my life almost two years later.
At least—
that was what I had always believed.
Rachel shook her head.
“She knew Claire.””
“No,” I said.
Vanessa spoke immediately.
“She’s lying.””
Rachel pointed at her.
“Check Vanessa’s left shoulder.””
Vanessa stepped backward.
“What?””
Rachel looked at me.
“Claire photographed her.””
“Photographed what?””
“The tattoo.””
Vanessa turned.
I caught her before she reached the stairs.
Her blouse tore slightly at the shoulder.
And there it was.
A small black crescent moon.
I remembered the photograph.
Claire had shown it to me days before her death.
A blurry image from outside our house.
A woman standing near Claire’s car.
Face hidden.
But on her shoulder—
a crescent moon.
My hands went numb.
“You knew Claire.””
Vanessa’s lips trembled.
Then sirens sounded outside.
Rachel grabbed my arm.
“That isn’t the worst part.””
I looked at her.
“What could possibly be worse?””
Rachel stared toward the stairs where Lily was waiting.
Then she whispered something that made the entire room seem to tilt beneath my feet.
“Daniel… Vanessa wasn’t hiding me because of Claire.””
May you like
She swallowed.
“She was hiding me because I know who Lily’s biological mother really is.””
