Chapter 3
I grabbed my phone and turned on the flashlight.
“Sophie, stay behind me.”
She held my jacket with both hands.
The stairwell was still open, but the bare bulb below had gone out.
“Natalie!”
“I’m here!”
Her voice sounded farther away.
I started down the stairs.
“Owen, wait!”
I stopped.
Vanessa was standing above me.
She wasn't smiling anymore.
“You don't know what's down there.”
I turned.
“I know my wife is down there.”
“You think you're rescuing her.”
“What else would I be doing?”
Vanessa looked at the darkness.
“There are things you haven't been told.”
I stepped toward her.
“Then start talking.”
She shook her head.
“Not here.”
“Then where?”
She looked toward the front doors.
I understood immediately.
She wanted to run.
I moved in front of her.
“You're not leaving.”
She looked at me.
“You still don't understand, Owen.”
“Then explain it.”
“You think Natalie is the only person who has been lying to you?”
I froze.
“What does that mean?”
Vanessa glanced at Sophie.
My daughter looked terrified.
Vanessa's voice softened.
“She knows.”
I stared at her.
“Who?”
Vanessa pointed toward the staircase.
“Natalie.”
I went down another step.
“Stop playing games.”
“Ask her about the night your father died.”
My body went rigid.
My father had died three years earlier.
A heart attack, according to the doctors.
A tragedy.
Nothing more.
“What does my father have to do with Natalie?”
Vanessa didn't answer.
I descended.
“Sophie, stay upstairs.”
“No!”
She clung to me.
“I want Mommy.”
I looked at my daughter.
I couldn't leave her alone with Vanessa.
So I carried her down.
The stairwell was narrow.
The walls were concrete.
The air smelled damp.
At the bottom was a metal door.
It was unlocked.
I pushed it open.
The room beyond was larger than I expected.
A bare bulb hung from the ceiling.
Natalie was sitting against the far wall with her wrists tied loosely in front of her.
Her face was exhausted.
Sophie screamed.
“Mommy!”
Natalie broke down crying.
I rushed to her.
I cut the restraints with a small utility blade from my pocket.
She grabbed my face.
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then she whispered, “I thought I was never going to see you again.”
I held her tightly.
“I thought you were gone.”
“I tried to come home.”
“Why didn't you?”
She looked toward the doorway.
“Because Vanessa wasn't acting alone.”
I felt my stomach drop.
“Who else?”
Natalie hesitated.
Then she said, “Your brother.”
I released her.
“My brother?”
She nodded.
“Marcus.”
I couldn't speak.
Marcus lived two states away.
He had barely spoken to me in years.
Why would he have anything to do with this?
Natalie reached for my hand.
“Owen, listen to me carefully.”
“What?”
“Your father's death wasn't natural.”
The room seemed to tilt.
“What?”
“He was investigating money missing from the family company.”
I stared at her.
“He found something.”
“What?”
“Documents.”
“What documents?”
“Transfers. Hidden accounts. Payments.”
My chest tightened.
“Who was receiving the money?”
Natalie looked at me.
“Marcus.”
I stepped backward.
“No.”
“I saw the records.”
“No.”
“He wasn't alone.”
I thought about Vanessa.
The mansion.
The hidden basement.
The keys.
My entire life suddenly felt like a carefully constructed lie.
I looked at Natalie.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“I tried.”
“When?”
“The night I disappeared.”
I shook my head.
“You told me you were going to your mother's.”
“I never went there.”
“What happened?”
“Vanessa intercepted me.”
I looked toward the stairs.
“Why?”
“Because I had the documents.”
“What documents?”
Natalie reached beneath her shirt and pulled out a small plastic card.
I stared at it.
“A memory card?”
She nodded.
“I hid it before they took me.”
I took it from her.
“What’s on it?”
“Everything.”
A sound came from upstairs.
A door slammed.
Vanessa screamed.
“OWEN!”
I looked up.
Then I heard another voice.
Male.
Calm.
Close.
“Brother.”
May you like
My heart stopped.
Marcus.
