Chapter 2 - THE ROOM THAT SHOULD HAVE STAYED LOCKED
Leo waited until Mia was asleep before he went to Elena's room.
He did not tell Celeste what Mia had said.
He did not call Grant Hale, his closest friend and business partner.
He did not alert the security staff that had protected Mercer House for years.
For the first time in his adult life, Leo trusted no one under his own roof.
He changed out of the ruined shirt but could not bring himself to throw it away.
The pink heart had dried bright and ugly over the white cotton.
He folded the shirt and put it in the bottom drawer of his dresser.
Then he slipped the brass key into his pocket.
The east hallway was dark when he crossed it at eleven forty-three.
Mercer House had been built by Leo's great-grandfather and renovated by people who believed hidden doors were a sign of good taste.
The walls were paneled in walnut, the ceilings were too high, and every footstep seemed to belong to someone else.
Elena used to joke that the house was beautiful in the way a museum was beautiful.
You admired it while constantly being told not to touch anything.
Leo reached her door.
The lock showed fresh scratches.
That alone confirmed Mia's story.
Someone had opened it recently.
He used his key and stepped inside.
The room smelled faintly of cedar and dust.
Moonlight cut through the curtains and landed across the bed Elena had refused to replace even after the mattress started sagging.
Everything looked exactly as Leo remembered.
Her books lined the shelf.
A silver perfume bottle sat on the vanity.
A framed photograph of Elena holding newborn Mia remained facedown where Leo had left it three years earlier.
But the wardrobe doors were open.
Leo had closed them.
He switched on a small lamp.
One of the storage boxes from the top shelf sat on the floor.
Its lid had been moved.
Leo crouched and opened it.
Inside were old birthday cards, a scarf, two notebooks, and a leather pouch containing Elena's jewelry.
The blue box Mia mentioned was gone.
Leo searched the wardrobe twice.
Nothing.
He checked beneath the bed.
Nothing.
Then he noticed a square of clean wood behind the nightstand where dust should have gathered.
Something had been removed from there recently.
Leo pushed the nightstand aside.
A recessed wall safe appeared behind it.
He stared at the keypad.
He had never known it existed.
The brass key from Bunny fit into a narrow override slot beneath the numbers.
Leo turned it.
The safe opened with a soft mechanical click.
Inside were three things.
A flash drive.
A bank envelope.
And a photograph of Grant Hale standing beside Elena outside a hotel in Boston.
The photograph was dated four days before Elena died.
Leo's first reaction was anger.
His second was shame for feeling it.
Grant had been his friend since college.
He had been best man at Leo's wedding.
He had carried Mia through the funeral when Leo could barely stand.
The photograph could mean anything.
Leo turned it over.
Elena had written two words on the back.
HE KNOWS.
Leo sat on the edge of the bed.
His mind tried to force the pieces into a shape that made sense.
Elena's final letter had said she was leaving him.
Now a note hidden in Mia's toy said to take Mia if an unnamed man found the secret.
A photograph linked Elena to Grant days before her death.
And Celeste had entered this room without permission.
Leo opened the bank envelope.
Inside was a receipt from a private storage company in Boston.
The unit had been paid for ten years in advance.
The renter's name was Elena Mercer.
The emergency contact was not Leo.
It was Celeste.
Leo heard the floor creak behind him.
He turned fast.
Celeste stood in the doorway wearing a cream robe and a look of complete disappointment.
“You always were impatient.”
Leo did not rise.
“Why were you in here with Mia?”
Celeste's gaze moved to the open safe.
“You found it.”
“Answer me.”
Celeste stepped inside and shut the door.
At sixty-two, she carried herself like someone who had never been required to repeat a sentence.
Her silver-blonde hair was pinned neatly, and not even midnight could make her look unprepared.
“Mia found Bunny's loose seam,” she said.
“I recognized Elena's stitching.”
“So you cut it open?”
“I checked it.”
“You took my daughter into a locked room without telling me.”
“I was trying to determine whether Elena left something that could protect her.”
Leo stood.
“Protect Mia from who?”
Celeste did not answer quickly enough.
Leo held up the photograph of Grant.
“From him?”
For one second, Celeste's face changed.
It was not surprise.
It was fear.
Leo saw it clearly.
Then she recovered.
“You need to put that away.”
“That is not an answer.”
“Leo, there are matters you do not understand.”
“Then explain them.”
Celeste's voice lowered.
“Not while Grant can still enter this house whenever he chooses.”
Leo stared at her.
“Grant has been my partner for fourteen years.”
“Yes.”
“And for fourteen years, he has known exactly where your blind spots are.”
Leo's phone vibrated in his pocket.
The timing was so perfect that both of them looked down.
Grant's name glowed on the screen.
Leo answered without taking his eyes off Celeste.
“Yeah?”
Grant sounded relaxed.
“Sorry to call late.”
“You awake?”
“Obviously.”
“I just got an alert from the house system.”
“Elena's room was opened.”
Leo's grip tightened around the phone.
He had disabled those alerts three years ago.
At least he thought he had.
Grant continued.
“Everything okay?”
Leo glanced at Celeste.
She shook her head once.
Very slowly.
Leo chose his words carefully.
“Mia couldn't sleep.”
“I came up for an old blanket.”
A pause followed.
It lasted less than a second, but Leo heard it.
Then Grant laughed softly.
“Man, you scared me.”
“For a second I thought somebody was digging through the past.”
Leo looked at the photograph in his hand.
“Why would that scare you?”
The line went quiet.
Grant's voice came back warmer than before.
“It wouldn't.”
“Just making conversation.”
Leo ended the call.
Celeste crossed the room and locked the door.
“Now you understand why I did not tell you.”
“No,” Leo said.
“Now I understand that everyone in this house has been lying to me.”
He picked up the flash drive.
Celeste grabbed his wrist.
“Do not put that into any computer connected to your network.”
Leo looked down at her hand.
“Why?”
“Because Elena believed the network was compromised before she died.”
Leo felt a pressure build behind his ribs.
“Believed by who?”
Celeste swallowed.
“Grant.”
Leo pulled his wrist free.
“You're accusing my best friend of spying on my wife.”
“I am telling you what your wife told me.”
Leo froze.
“You spoke to Elena before she died?”
Celeste's silence was answer enough.
“How close?”
Celeste looked toward the photograph.
“Forty-three minutes before her car left the road.”
The anger left Leo's face.
Something heavier replaced it.
“You knew she was leaving.”
“Yes.”
“And you let me spend three years believing she was running from me.”
Celeste's eyes hardened with grief.
“She was not running from you.”
Leo's throat tightened.
“Then who was she running from?”
Celeste looked at the closed door.
Before she could answer, the house alarm chirped once.
Not the full security alarm.
A single access notification.
Leo pulled out his phone.
A message appeared from the garage entry system.
GRANT HALE - ACCESS GRANTED.
Leo looked at the time.
12:07 A.M.
May you like
Grant was already inside the house.
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