Chapter 7: Someone Was Upstairs
I didn’t think.
I ran.
“Lily!””
Officer Morales shouted behind me.
“Daniel, wait!””
I was already taking the stairs two at a time.
The photograph on the phone had been taken upstairs.
Inside my house.
Seconds ago.
“Maria!””
I reached Lily’s bedroom.
Empty.
My heart stopped.
Then Maria stepped out of the bathroom with Lily behind her.
“Daniel?””
I grabbed Lily and pulled her against me.
“Daddy, you’re hurting me.””
I loosened my arms immediately.
“Sorry.””
Maria stared at my face.
“What happened?””
“Did anyone come in here?””
“No.””
“Did you leave the room?””
“For maybe thirty seconds. Lily wanted juice, but—”
“Did anyone enter?””
“I didn’t see anyone.””
Morales arrived with two officers.
“Lock down the house,” he ordered.
“Nobody enters or leaves.””
One officer moved toward the hallway.
I showed Maria the photograph.
Her face drained of color.
“That was taken five minutes ago.””
“Exactly.””
Lily peeked at the screen.
“I know that picture.””
We all turned.
“What do you mean?”” I asked.
“The lady took it.””
“What lady?””
Lily pointed toward the doorway.
“The blonde lady.””
Natalie.
My skin went cold.
“You saw her?””
Lily nodded.
“When?””
“Before you came upstairs.””
Maria stared at her.
“Lily, nobody came into the room.””
“She didn’t come through the door.””
Silence.
I crouched.
“Then where did she come from?””
Lily pointed at the wardrobe.
Not again.
I crossed the room and yanked it open.
Dresses.
Shoes.
Boxes.
Nothing else.
Then I noticed a draft.
Cold air brushed my hand.
I pushed aside Lily’s hanging coats.
A thin vertical line ran down the back panel.
“Morales.””
He joined me.
We pulled.
The entire wooden panel swung inward.
Maria gasped.
Behind it was a narrow passage.
Dark.
Old.
Running inside the walls.
“What the hell?”” Morales whispered.
I grabbed a flashlight.
He stopped me.
“I go first.””
Two officers entered before us.
The passage smelled of dust and damp wood.
Electrical wires had been recently installed along one side.
Twenty feet in, we found a stool.
Beside it—
a camera.
The lens pointed through a tiny hole directly into Lily’s bedroom.
Maria covered her mouth.
“No.””
I felt physically sick.
Someone had been watching my daughter.
Morales picked up the camera with gloved hands.
“This isn’t old equipment.””
“How recent?””
“Very.””
Lily called from behind us.
“Daddy?””
I turned sharply.
“Stay with Maria!””
She pointed deeper into the passage.
“She goes that way.””
“Who?””
“The blonde lady.””
Morales and I exchanged a look.
We continued.
The passage descended.
At the bottom was another concealed door.
It opened behind the bookcase in my study.
I stared at it.
I had worked in that room almost every night for years.
Someone could have stood three feet behind me.
Watching.
Listening.
Morales noticed something on the floor.
A muddy footprint.
Then another.
They led toward the French doors.
One stood open.
“She’s gone,” he said.
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
Everyone froze.
I answered.
“Hello?””
Breathing.
Then a woman’s voice.
“Daniel.””
I knew immediately.
Natalie.
“Stay away from my daughter.””
A soft laugh.
“She’s my daughter too.””
“No. She isn’t.””
“You saw the DNA records.””
“I saw documents. That doesn’t give you the right to stalk a six-year-old.””
“I’m not stalking her.””
“You were inside her wall!””
“I was protecting her.””
“From whom?””
Silence.
Then Natalie said, “Vanessa.””
I looked downstairs.
“Vanessa is surrounded by police.””
“That won’t matter.””
“What does that mean?””
“Ask her what happened to Claire’s brake line.””
My grip tightened.
“You know something about Claire’s crash?””
“I know everything.””
“Then come here.””
“I can’t.””
“Why?””
“Because Evelyn will kill me.””
“Evelyn is in custody.””
Natalie laughed.
“You still think Evelyn is running this?””
My stomach dropped.
“Who is?””
Natalie ignored the question.
“Midnight. Old Shaw house.””
“I’m not bringing Lily.””
“Then come alone.””
“You threatened my daughter.””
“I was warning you.””
“You threw a phone through my window.””
“No, Daniel.””
Her voice changed.
“I didn’t.””
I looked at Morales.
“What?””
“I sent the message.””
Natalie whispered the next words.
“But I didn’t throw the phone.””
A sound came from downstairs.
A scream.
Vanessa.
Then a gunshot.
I ran.
The library door was open.
An officer lay on the floor clutching his shoulder.
The broken window curtains whipped in the night air.
Vanessa was gone.
“Where is she?””
The injured officer grimaced.
“Someone came through the passage behind the fireplace.””
Another passage.
Of course.
Morales swore.
Then my phone buzzed.
Natalie had sent an image.
Vanessa was sitting in the passenger seat of a black SUV.
Her eyes were wide with terror.
A man’s hand gripped her hair.
The face of the man was outside the frame.
Under the photograph were six words.
HE KNOWS YOU FOUND THE DOCUMENTS.
I called Natalie back.
She answered immediately.
“Who is he?””
Natalie went silent.
“WHO IS HE?””
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
“The man who actually founded Mercer Biotech.””
“That was my father.””
“No.””
“Who, Natalie?””
She exhaled.
“Your father stole the company from him.””
“Name.””
Another pause.
Then she said it.
“Richard Vale.””
My knees nearly buckled.
Richard Vale wasn’t a stranger.
He was my father’s oldest friend.
May you like
My godfather.
And the man who had been managing Lily’s trust since Claire died.
