Chapter 2: The Hatch Beneath the Water
For several seconds, neither of us moved.
The scraping came again.
Three slow metallic knocks.
Then silence.
Vanessa dropped the key.
It struck the stone terrace and rolled beneath a sun lounger.
“Marcus,” she whispered, “we need to leave.””
I looked at her.
“Why?””
“Because you don't know what's down there.””
“Neither do you?””
She swallowed.
I noticed her right hand trembling.
“You have a key,” I said.
“You've clearly been here before.””
She shook her head.
“Not inside the room.””
“But you know it exists.””
“Marcus, please.””
I walked toward the lounger and retrieved the key.
She lunged for my arm.
“Don't open it!””
I pulled away.
“Four years ago, my wife disappeared. Now she's calling me from somewhere, telling me not to let you near my daughter. And there's a locked room underneath my swimming pool.””
My voice broke.
“How much more am I supposed to ignore?””
Vanessa's eyes filled with tears.
“I was trying to protect you.””
“From what?””
“From Danielle.””
I stared at her.
Then I heard Ava screaming inside.
“Daddy!””
I dropped the key and ran.
Ava was standing in the kitchen doorway, holding a glass of pink lemonade.
Mrs. Patterson stood beside her, looking frightened.
“What happened?””
Ava pointed toward the glass.
“Vanessa said I have to drink this before bedtime.””
I took the glass.
It smelled faintly of strawberries.
“Did you drink any?””
Ava shook her head.
“I don't want it anymore.””
Mrs. Patterson stepped closer.
“Mr. Marcus, I've been meaning to speak with you.””
“What is it?””
She glanced toward the terrace.
“Miss Cole has been giving Ava that drink every evening. She told me it was a vitamin mixture.””
My stomach tightened.
“How long?””
“Almost six months.””
“Did you see her prepare it?””
“Several times. She always brought a small bottle from her handbag.””
I remembered the unlabeled medicine bottles I'd seen hidden behind the lemonade pitcher.
I opened the kitchen cabinet.
Three small bottles were sitting exactly where I'd left them.
Their labels had been peeled off.
“Did you ever ask her what was inside?””
Mrs. Patterson shook her head.
“She told me it was prescribed by a private specialist.””
“Which specialist?””
“I don't know, sir.””
I picked up one bottle.
There was a handwritten letter on the bottom.
A single word.
Quiet.
My fingers tightened around the glass.
“Mrs. Patterson, take Ava upstairs. Lock the bedroom door. Don't let anyone inside unless I come with you.””
She nodded immediately.
Vanessa appeared in the doorway.
“Marcus, what are you doing?””
I held up the bottle.
“What is this?””
Her eyes moved from the bottle to Ava.
Then she smiled.
It was a small, practiced smile.
“It's a harmless herbal supplement.””
“Then you won't mind explaining why you hid it.””
“I didn't hide anything.””
“Why does it have no label?””
“Because I transfer it into smaller containers.””
“Who prescribed it?””
She hesitated.
That hesitation was enough.
I stepped closer.
“What's in it?””
“Something to help Ava sleep.””
“She doesn't need help sleeping. She needs her father to stop trusting the woman who keeps drugging her.””
Vanessa's face changed.
“Don't use that word.””
“What word? Drugging?””
She slapped the bottle out of my hand.
It shattered against the kitchen floor.
Ava screamed.
Mrs. Patterson immediately carried her upstairs.
Vanessa stood over the broken glass, breathing hard.
“You have no idea what I've done for this family,” she said.
I laughed bitterly.
“You've been here for less than a year.””
“And I've done more for Ava than Danielle ever did!””
The words hung between us.
I stepped forward.
“Take that back.””
Vanessa's eyes flashed.
“Your wife was selfish. She made choices that put your daughter in danger.””
“Where is she?””
“I don't know.””
“That's interesting. Because she just called me.””
Vanessa's expression collapsed.
For the first time, she looked genuinely cornered.
I reached for my phone.
She grabbed my wrist.
“Don't call the police.””
“Get your hands off me.””
“If you tell them about the room, they'll take Ava.””
“Why?””
She released me.
Then she whispered something that made my blood turn cold.
“Because Danielle wasn't the only person who disappeared that night.””
Before I could question her, the front doorbell rang.
I looked at the clock.
3:47 p.m.
Nobody was supposed to visit.
Vanessa suddenly grabbed her handbag.
“Don't answer that.””
I walked toward the entrance.
She followed.
The bell rang again.
I opened the door.
A tall man in a gray suit stood on the porch, holding a leather folder.
He looked directly at me.
“Marcus Reed?””
“Yes.””
“My name is Detective Robert Hayes. I worked on your wife's disappearance.””
My heart began pounding.
“Detective, what are you doing here?””
He glanced past my shoulder.
His eyes settled on Vanessa.
Then his expression turned hard.
“I'm here because we found something in the old police evidence file.””
He opened the folder.
Inside was a photograph of a woman standing beside Danielle's abandoned car four years earlier.
I recognized the woman immediately.
It was Vanessa.
But the photograph had a date printed across the bottom.
September 14.
The night Danielle disappeared.
Detective Hayes lowered his voice.
“Mr. Reed, there's something you need to know.””
Vanessa took a step backward.
Hayes continued.
“The woman you've been calling Vanessa Cole was questioned under a completely different name the morning after your wife vanished.””
I turned toward my fiancée.
She was already moving toward the back door.
“Vanessa!””
She ran.
Detective Hayes grabbed my shoulder.
“Don't follow her!””
But I was already sprinting through the kitchen.
By the time I reached the terrace, Vanessa had disappeared.
Her handbag lay beside the swimming pool.
The brass key was gone.
And beneath the water, the metal hatch stood wide open.
A narrow beam of yellow light flickered from somewhere below.
Then a child's voice drifted up through the opening.
“Daddy?””
I froze.
It wasn't Ava.
May you like
It was another little girl.
And she was calling me by name.
