Chapter 13 - THE GIRL BEHIND THE BLUE DOOR
Ethan had a sister named Emily.
She was seven years younger.
She disappeared during a family trip when Ethan was eleven.
For twenty-eight years, Ethan believed she drowned.
No body had ever been recovered.
Eleanor had insisted the family stop searching after six months.
Claire watched Ethan struggle to understand.
“You told me she died.”
Eleanor nodded.
“I thought she had.”
“What changed?”
“Julian found her.”
“When?”
“Four years ago.”
Richard stared at his wife.
“You knew?”
“Not until after you disappeared.”
Richard looked devastated.
“Where has she been?”
Eleanor began crying.
“Private psychiatric facilities.”
“Under different names.”
Ethan looked sick.
“Why?”
“Because she remembered.”
“Remembered what?”
Eleanor looked at Richard.
“The night she disappeared.”
Richard’s face changed.
Claire saw it.
“You know.”
Richard sat down slowly.
“I suspected.”
Ethan stared at him.
“What happened?”
Richard spoke with difficulty.
“Your grandfather was violent.”
Ethan’s jaw tightened.
“Toward who?”
“Everyone.”
“Julian especially.”
“Your mother.”
“Me.”
Richard looked toward Eleanor.
“The night Emily disappeared, she saw Julian fighting with him near the lake.”
Claire whispered.
“Your grandfather died that same year.”
Richard nodded.
“Heart attack.”
Eleanor closed her eyes.
“No.”
Everyone looked at her.
“Julian killed him.”
Silence.
Ethan stared.
“Emily saw it.”
“Yes.”
“Julian panicked.”
“He took her.”
Richard stood.
“You knew this?”
“Not then.”
“Years later, he told me she was dead.”
“Then four years ago he admitted she wasn’t.”
Ethan was shaking with fury.
“And you did nothing?”
“I paid for her care.”
“You hid her.”
“I was trying to protect her.”
“Stop saying that.”
Ethan’s voice exploded.
“Every horrible thing you’ve done, you call protection.”
Claire stepped closer to him.
Eleanor flinched.
“You’re right.”
The room became still.
Eleanor wiped her face.
“You are right.”
“I protected the family name.”
“I protected money.”
“I protected myself.”
“And every time I called it love.”
Ethan looked away.
Claire asked the question that mattered.
“Why was Emily in the Blue Room the night I came back?”
Eleanor answered.
“Julian moved her there.”
“He planned to use her against Richard if Richard ever surfaced.”
“I found out that morning.”
“I was trying to move her.”
Claire remembered climbing the stairs.
The blue door.
A shadow behind the glass.
“I heard someone.”
Eleanor nodded.
“Emily.”
“You told me I never should’ve come back.”
“I knew if you saw her, Julian would come after everyone.”
Claire’s expression hardened.
“So you pushed me.”
Eleanor lowered her head.
“Yes.”
Ethan stared at his mother.
“You almost killed her.”
“I know.”
“Where is Emily now?”
Eleanor looked up.
“I don’t know.”
Claire felt cold.
“What?”
“When the lights went out after the police arrived, she was gone.”
“Julian took her.”
Mara immediately moved.
“We need everything you know.”
Thirty minutes later, police traced medical payments to a property near Lake Geneva.
The estate belonged to a company tied to Julian.
Ethan insisted on going.
Richard went too.
Eleanor remained under guard.
Claire refused to stay behind.
The estate looked abandoned.
Inside, they found evidence someone had lived there for years.
Books.
Medication.
Women’s clothing.
Photographs of Ethan.
Dozens.
Some from newspapers.
Some taken from far away.
Claire picked one up.
Emily had watched her brother from a distance for years.
In the bedroom was a notebook.
Every page contained Ethan’s name.
I saw Ethan on television today.
He looks like Dad.
I wonder if he remembers me.
Mom says I can’t contact him.
She says Julian will hurt him.
Claire handed it to Ethan.
His eyes filled.
Another page.
Claire came back.
I remember Claire.
She was kind to me once at the Christmas fundraiser.
I think she knows Mom is lying.
Claire froze.
Emily had been at the manor before.
Hidden.
Watching.
Mara entered.
“We found a vehicle record.”
“Julian moved someone yesterday.”
“Where?”
“A private airfield.”
Ethan looked terrified.
“He’s taking her out of the country.”
“Not yet.”
Mara held up the flight log.
“The aircraft is still here.”
They reached the airfield at dusk.
The hangar was locked.
Police surrounded it.
Mara called out.
“Julian Blackwood.”
“No exit.”
“Come out.”
Nothing.
Ethan heard a woman scream inside.
“Emily!”
He ran.
Mara grabbed him.
“Wait.”
The hangar doors opened.
Julian stepped out.
Alive.
Wet scars marked one side of his face from the mill fall.
He held Emily by the arm.
She was thirty-two.
Thin.
Terrified.
She looked at Ethan.
Her eyes widened.
“Ethan?”
His face broke.
“Emily.”
She started crying.
Julian tightened his grip.
“Family reunions.”
“So touching.”
Ethan stared at him.
“Let her go.”
Julian smiled.
“You ruined everything.”
“No.”
Claire stepped beside Ethan.
“You did.”
Julian looked at her with pure hatred.
“Claire.”
“You should have stayed gone.”
She almost smiled.
“Eleanor said the same thing.”
“Look how well that worked.”
Julian raised his weapon.
Richard stepped forward.
“Take me.”
Ethan looked at him.
“Dad.”
Richard ignored him.
“This started with us.”
“You and me.”
“Let Emily go.”
Julian laughed.
“You still think you’re the good brother.”
“No.”
Richard shook his head.
“I think I spent my life pretending your pain excused what you became.”
“It didn’t.”
Julian’s hand trembled.
Emily suddenly looked at Claire.
Then toward the hangar door.
Claire understood.
Emily had noticed something.
A fuel switch.
Claire moved one step sideways.
Julian noticed.
“Don’t.”
Emily stomped on Julian’s foot.
He lost his grip.
Ethan ran.
Julian fired.
The shot hit the concrete.
Mara fired once.
Julian’s weapon dropped.
Officers rushed him.
He fought.
He screamed.
He cursed Richard.
He cursed Eleanor.
He cursed Claire.
Then handcuffs closed around his wrists.
For the first time in three years, Julian Blackwood had nowhere to run.
Ethan reached Emily.
She stared at him.
“You got old.”
Ethan laughed through tears.
“So did you.”
She touched his face.
“I thought you forgot me.”
He shook his head.
“Never.”
Police led Julian away.
Claire thought the nightmare was ending.
Then Emily looked at Richard.
Her expression changed.
Fear returned.
She stepped behind Ethan.
Richard froze.
“Emily?”
She whispered.
“No.”
Ethan frowned.
“What?”
Emily pointed at Richard.
“That isn’t Dad.”
Nobody moved.
Richard stared at her.
Emily began shaking.
“That man was with Julian the night Grandpa died.”
Claire felt the world drop beneath her.
May you like
Ethan slowly turned toward the man he had embraced hours earlier.
And Richard Blackwood smiled.
