Chapter 2
I grabbed the woman's hand.
It was warm.
That frightened me more than anything else.
A warm hand meant a living person.
Someone breathing.
Someone trapped beneath my swimming pool.
I pulled.
The fingers tightened around mine.
Then something tugged the woman backward.
I couldn't see what.
My lungs were screaming.
I tried to pull her closer, but the opening was too narrow.
The pressure of the water pushed against the hatch.
I needed air.
I needed help.
And I needed to know whether the woman beneath me was really Elena.
I squeezed her fingers once.
Then I pointed upward.
A desperate signal.
I would come back.
I kicked toward the surface.
By the time my head broke through the water, I was gasping.
"LILY!"
My daughter screamed my name.
Vanessa stood near the patio doors, holding Lily tightly.
I swam toward the steps.
"Call 911!"
Vanessa didn't move.
"Marcus, what happened?"
"THERE'S SOMEONE DOWN THERE!"
Her face went white.
"That's impossible."
I climbed out, dripping water onto the stone.
I grabbed my phone.
"Emergency services," the dispatcher answered.
I gave our address.
"There's a person trapped inside an underwater structure beneath my swimming pool. Send firefighters, rescue divers, and an ambulance."
The dispatcher asked several questions.
I answered as clearly as I could.
Then I looked at Vanessa.
"Why did you say it was impossible?"
She blinked.
"What?"
"You didn't ask what I saw."
"Marcus, you're scaring me."
"You immediately said it was impossible."
Her mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
Lily pulled away from her and ran into my arms.
"Daddy, did you find Mommy?"
I held her.
My chest tightened.
"I found someone, baby."
"Was it her?"
I looked at the swimming pool.
"I don't know yet."
She began crying harder.
"But it was Mommy's hand."
I brushed wet hair off her forehead.
"We're going to find out."
Vanessa stepped closer.
"Marcus, maybe someone broke into the old maintenance area."
I froze.
"The old maintenance area?"
She stopped speaking.
I stared at her.
"What maintenance area?"
Vanessa looked toward the house.
"I meant the pool equipment."
"No."
I stepped toward her.
"You said the old maintenance area."
"Marcus, you're twisting my words."
"How do you know there's something beneath the pool?"
She folded her arms.
"Because every swimming pool has equipment."
I knew that wasn't true.
Our equipment room was behind the garage.
Elena had insisted on moving the pumps there during our renovation.
The circular hatch at the bottom was supposed to be part of an abandoned water-storage system.
At least, that was what the contractor had told me.
But Elena had handled most of the renovation.
And after her death, I never thought about it again.
Until now.
A siren sounded in the distance.
Vanessa turned toward the driveway.
Then she did something strange.
She slipped her phone out of her dress pocket.
Her fingers moved quickly across the screen.
I watched her.
"Who are you texting?"
She jumped.
"No one."
"Show me."
Her expression hardened.
"Excuse me?"
"Show me your phone."
"Marcus, I will not be interrogated because your daughter imagined seeing a ghost."
Lily flinched.
I moved between them.
"Don't talk about my daughter like that."
Vanessa stared at me.
For the first time since I had known her, I saw something ugly beneath her polished smile.
Then the fire trucks arrived.
Within minutes, our peaceful terrace became a rescue scene.
Firefighters carried equipment through the house.
Two rescue divers examined the pool.
A paramedic checked Lily while I explained what I had seen.
"The hatch leads somewhere," I insisted.
"There's a living woman underneath it."
The rescue captain, a broad-shouldered man named Harris, listened carefully.
"Did you see her face?"
"No."
"Could you identify her?"
I swallowed.
"She was wearing my wife's ring."
Harris glanced at the paramedic.
"My wife was declared dead fourteen months ago," I said.
He didn't dismiss me.
He simply nodded.
"We're going to investigate."
The divers entered the pool.
I stood beside Lily, watching every movement.
One diver reached the hatch.
The other followed.
They secured safety lines and a lifting device.
The metal cover resisted.
Then the first diver signaled.
Something was wrong.
Harris spoke into his radio.
The divers surfaced.
"There's an engineered chamber below," one said, removing his mask. "And some kind of pressurized access passage. We can't just rip the hatch open."
My mouth went dry.
"Is there someone inside?"
"We saw movement behind a secondary barrier."
My knees nearly gave out.
Movement.
Real movement.
"Please," I whispered.
Harris touched my shoulder.
"We have a confined-space rescue team coming. We'll work through the access system safely."
Vanessa suddenly stepped backward.
I saw her glance toward the gate.
Then she walked quickly toward the house.
"Vanessa!"
She stopped.
"Where are you going?"
"To get Lily some water."
"There's water right here."
She turned.
Her expression was cold.
"I need a minute, Marcus."
Before I could answer, Lily screamed.
"DADDY!"
I spun around.
One of the rescue technicians had opened an exterior service panel hidden behind a stone planter.
Inside was a narrow staircase.
A staircase I had never seen.
Harris stood at the opening.
"Mr. Bennett, did you know about this?"
I shook my head.
The captain shined his flashlight down the stairs.
"There's a lower service level."
Then his radio crackled.
A voice came through.
"Captain, we found an interior access door."
Another pause.
"We've got a woman down here."
I couldn't breathe.
"She's alive."
Lily began sobbing.
I fell to my knees and held her.
But the voice on the radio wasn't finished.
"She's severely dehydrated. There are restraints attached to the wall."
My entire body went numb.
Restraints.
Someone had kept a woman beneath my home.
And suddenly, the horrible question wasn't whether Elena was alive.
It was who had put her there.
I turned toward the mansion.
Vanessa was standing beside the open patio door.
Her phone was pressed against her ear.
When she saw me looking, she lowered it.
Then she disappeared inside.
I rose.
And before I could follow her, the rescue captain called my name.
"Mr. Bennett."
I turned.
Two paramedics were coming up the hidden staircase with a stretcher.
A woman lay beneath a thermal blanket.
Her face was concealed behind an oxygen mask.
But black curls spilled across the pillow.
Curls I had brushed away from my wife's face a thousand times.
The woman slowly lifted one trembling hand.
May you like
And whispered a single word.
"Marcus."
