Chapter 8 - THE ROOM UNDER THE MANSION
Nathan stared at Rebecca.
“What does that mean?”
Rebecca slowly lowered the gun.
Emma could not stop looking at her mother.
Alive.
Standing ten feet away.
Older.
Scarred.
Real.
Rebecca looked at Emma.
“I’m sorry.”
Emma did not answer.
Rebecca took another step.
Emma stepped backward.
That hurt Rebecca more than any accusation.
Her eyes filled.
“Emma.”
“You watched me.”
Rebecca stopped.
“You lived three miles away.”
“Yes.”
“You watched my wedding.”
“Yes.”
“You watched me marry into the family you spent twenty years hiding from.”
Rebecca swallowed.
“Yes.”
Emma’s voice broke.
“And you did nothing.”
“I was trying to keep you safe.”
“No.”
Emma shook her head.
“You were trying to keep yourself hidden.”
Rebecca looked down.
Emma continued.
“You let me walk into that house.”
“You let me love them.”
“You let me have a child with them.”
Nathan looked at the floor.
Rebecca whispered.
“I thought Nathan was different.”
Nathan looked up.
“You knew who I was?”
“Of course.”
“For how long?”
“From the moment Emma mentioned your name.”
Nathan stared.
“And you let us marry.”
Rebecca’s face tightened.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Rebecca looked at Emma.
“Because she loved you.”
Nathan said nothing.
Emma wiped tears from her face.
“That was not your decision.”
“I know.”
“No.”
Emma’s voice hardened.
“You don’t get to disappear and still decide what’s best for me.”
Rebecca closed her eyes.
“You’re right.”
The admission surprised Emma.
Rebecca slowly placed the gun on a table.
Then lifted both hands.
“I’m not asking you to forgive me.”
Emma stared at her.
“I’m asking you to survive tonight.”
Nathan stepped closer.
“You said Evelyn is where Margaret left you.”
Rebecca looked at him.
“There is an old utility level beneath the Whitmore mansion.”
Nathan frowned.
“There’s no basement.”
“Yes, there is.”
“No.”
“You lived there and never knew.”
Nathan looked at Emma.
Rebecca continued.
“The mansion was built over the remains of a private medical retreat from the 1940s.”
“Your grandfather converted part of it into storage.”
“Then your mother turned it into something else.”
Nathan’s face hardened.
“What?”
“A place to hide problems.”
Hayes stepped forward.
“Rebecca.”
She looked at him.
“You knew.”
Hayes shook his head.
“I suspected.”
“You always suspect after the fact.”
Hayes ignored that.
“How do you access it?”
Rebecca looked at Nathan.
“Behind the wine cellar.”
Nathan frowned.
“There is no door.”
“Not anymore.”
“Margaret sealed it.”
Nathan stared.
“How do you know?”
Rebecca’s voice became quiet.
“Because that’s where she kept me.”
Emma stopped breathing.
Rebecca continued.
“After the car crash.”
Emma moved closer.
“You were there?”
“For eleven days.”
Hayes looked stunned.
“You never told me that.”
Rebecca laughed bitterly.
“I didn’t tell you many things.”
Nathan stared at her.
“My mother held you under our house?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“She wanted the ledger.”
Rebecca’s eyes hardened.
“She believed I had it with me.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Where was it?”
Rebecca looked at Emma.
“I gave it to Thomas.”
Emma’s face changed.
“My father?”
“Yes.”
Emma stared.
“Thomas had the ledger?”
“For years.”
“Where is it now?”
Rebecca hesitated.
“I don’t know.”
Hayes stepped closer.
“That’s not what you told me.”
Rebecca turned.
“I never told you where it was.”
“You told me Thomas destroyed it.”
“I lied.”
Hayes stared.
Rebecca continued.
“I lied because you were asking too many questions.”
Hayes’s jaw tightened.
Nathan looked between them.
“What exactly is your relationship?”
Rebecca laughed once.
“Bad judgment.”
Hayes closed his eyes.
Emma frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Rebecca looked at Hayes.
“Tell her.”
Hayes did not.
Rebecca turned back to Emma.
“Daniel and I were involved.”
Emma stared.
“Romantically?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Before I disappeared the second time.”
Emma looked at Hayes.
He looked uncomfortable.
Rebecca continued.
“I trusted him.”
“Then I discovered he had copied sections of my father’s records.”
Hayes spoke.
“To protect them.”
Rebecca snapped.
“You sold one page.”
Hayes’s face hardened.
Nathan looked at him.
“You sold evidence?”
Hayes shook his head.
“No.”
Rebecca laughed.
“Still lying.”
Hayes stepped closer.
“I gave one page to an intermediary.”
“For money.”
“For leverage.”
“To pay for your safe house.”
Rebecca stared at him.
“You sold a list of account numbers.”
Hayes’s voice rose.
“I did what I had to do.”
Rebecca’s expression turned cold.
“And three people died within a month.”
Emma looked at Hayes.
His face went still.
Nathan stepped between Hayes and the women.
“You’re done.”
Hayes stared at him.
Nathan continued.
“You don’t touch Emma.”
“You don’t tell her where to go.”
“You don’t handle the evidence.”
Hayes laughed quietly.
“You think you’re in control?”
“No.”
Nathan looked at Rebecca.
“But neither are you.”
Rebecca respected that answer.
Nathan pulled out the burner phone.
“Evelyn.”
Rebecca nodded.
“She called from a phone I gave her.”
“Why?”
“Because she finally understood what Margaret had done.”
Emma frowned.
“What did Margaret do to her?”
Rebecca’s eyes shifted away.
“Margaret intended to use Evelyn.”
“As what?”
“A suspect.”
Nathan’s face changed.
Rebecca continued.
“Margaret knew police would find evidence of financial crimes.”
“She knew the staircase recording existed.”
“She knew Emma had contacted Hayes.”
“So she needed someone to blame.”
Emma stared.
“Evelyn.”
“Yes.”
Nathan shook his head.
“But Evelyn pushed Emma.”
Rebecca nodded.
“She did.”
Nathan’s jaw tightened.
“So she deserves consequences.”
“Yes.”
Rebecca stepped closer.
“But she didn’t create the shell companies.”
“She didn’t forge the original transfer records.”
“She didn’t arrange my father’s death.”
Emma looked at her.
“You think Margaret did.”
Rebecca’s expression answered.
Nathan spoke.
“Where is Evelyn now?”
Rebecca looked toward the window.
“Under the mansion.”
“You put her there?”
“No.”
“I found her there.”
Nathan frowned.
“What?”
Rebecca explained.
“I followed Margaret after she fled.”
“How?”
“I had been watching the house.”
Emma looked hurt again.
Rebecca noticed.
“I know.”
Emma said nothing.
Rebecca continued.
“Margaret drove toward the service road.”
“She stopped near the old maintenance entrance.”
“She dragged Evelyn out.”
Hayes frowned.
“Dragged?”
“Evelyn was unconscious.”
Nathan’s face tightened.
“The blood.”
“Probably hers.”
“What happened next?”
“Margaret opened the lower entrance.”
“How?”
“Fingerprint lock.”
Nathan looked confused.
“There’s a fingerprint lock under my house?”
“Yes.”
Rebecca continued.
“She took Evelyn inside.”
“I waited.”
“Then Margaret came back out alone.”
Nathan’s breathing changed.
“You left my sister down there?”
Rebecca stared at him.
“For ten minutes.”
“Then I went in.”
“Why didn’t you bring her out?”
Rebecca looked at Emma.
“Because I found something else.”
Emma frowned.
“What?”
Rebecca said nothing.
Hayes understood first.
“The ledger.”
Rebecca looked at him.
“No.”
“Then what?”
Rebecca reached into her coat.
She removed a small flash drive.
She handed it to Emma.
“What is this?”
Rebecca’s voice lowered.
“Margaret’s backup.”
Nathan frowned.
“Backup of what?”
Rebecca looked at him.
“Everything.”
“Transfers.”
“Payments.”
“Judges.”
“Police.”
“Politicians.”
“Witnesses.”
Hayes stared at the drive.
Rebecca pulled her hand away before he could reach.
Emma held it tightly.
Rebecca continued.
“And there’s one folder with Nathan’s name.”
Nathan went still.
Emma looked at him.
Rebecca saw both reactions.
“I haven’t opened it.”
Nathan stared at the drive.
“Why not?”
“Because it’s encrypted.”
“Password?”
“Unknown.”
Hayes looked toward the hidden room upstairs.
“We can break it.”
Rebecca laughed bitterly.
“You will not touch it.”
Hayes ignored her.
Emma put the flash drive inside her coat.
“No one touches it.”
Nathan nodded.
Rebecca looked at Emma.
“We need Evelyn first.”
Nathan immediately agreed.
“Yes.”
Hayes shook his head.
“No.”
Nathan turned.
“What?”
“If Margaret is still near the mansion, going back is exactly what she expects.”
Rebecca stared at him.
“She isn’t expecting me.”
Hayes looked at her.
“That makes it worse.”
Emma stood straighter.
“My sister-in-law is trapped under that house.”
Nathan looked at her.
“You don’t owe Evelyn anything.”
Emma shook her head.
“This is not about owing her.”
Nathan waited.
Emma continued.
“She pushed me.”
“She lied.”
“She tried to blame me.”
“And she will answer for that.”
Emma placed one hand over her belly.
“But I’m not leaving her locked underground with a woman who may have killed my grandfather.”
Rebecca’s eyes filled with something close to pride.
Emma noticed.
It irritated her.
“Don’t.”
Rebecca’s expression changed.
“What?”
“Don’t look at me like that.”
Rebecca looked away.
Emma turned to Nathan.
“We go.”
Nathan nodded.
Hayes stepped toward the door.
“I’m coming.”
Rebecca immediately picked up the gun.
“No.”
Hayes stopped.
Nathan looked at Rebecca.
“Can we really stop him?”
Rebecca considered that.
“No.”
Emma sighed.
“Then he comes.”
Hayes looked almost amused.
Emma pointed at him.
“But you walk in front.”
His smile disappeared.
Twenty-five minutes later, the four of them parked nearly half a mile from the Whitmore estate.
They moved through the trees.
Emma walked slowly.
Nathan stayed beside her.
Rebecca led them toward an old stone drainage channel.
Hayes followed behind.
Eventually Rebecca stopped at a rusted metal panel nearly hidden beneath ivy.
“This is it.”
Nathan stared.
“I’ve walked this property my entire life.”
Rebecca looked at him.
“Your mother counted on that.”
She placed her thumb against a dark reader beside the panel.
Nothing happened.
Nathan frowned.
“You said fingerprint.”
Rebecca removed a small transparent strip.
“What is that?”
“Margaret’s print.”
Hayes stared.
“How did you get it?”
Rebecca gave him a look.
“Twenty-three years of anger makes you resourceful.”
She pressed the strip.
A light flashed green.
The panel unlocked.
Nathan looked disturbed.
They descended a narrow concrete staircase.
The air became cold.
Emma gripped the railing.
Rebecca turned.
“Are you sure?”
Emma stared at her.
“Open the door.”
Rebecca did.
A long underground corridor appeared.
Old fluorescent lights flickered overhead.
Nathan stared.
“My God.”
Doors lined both sides.
Some were rusted.
Some newer.
Security cameras had been installed in corners.
Hayes noticed.
“Margaret updated this.”
Rebecca nodded.
They moved forward.
Then Nathan heard something.
A faint pounding.
“Evelyn?”
He ran.
Emma called after him.
“Nathan!”
Rebecca rushed behind him.
The pounding came from behind a steel door.
Nathan grabbed the handle.
Locked.
“Evelyn!”
A voice answered.
“Nathan!”
He slammed his shoulder against the door.
“It’s me!”
“Get me out!”
Rebecca found a keypad.
She entered a code.
Incorrect.
Again.
Incorrect.
Hayes stepped forward.
“Move.”
He examined the lock.
Emma looked through a narrow window.
Evelyn sat against the far wall.
Her hands were free now.
Her face was bruised.
Nathan pressed his palm against the glass.
“I’m here.”
Evelyn began crying.
“Nathan.”
Emma looked at her.
Evelyn saw Emma.
Her expression collapsed.
“I’m sorry.”
Emma said nothing.
“Emma.”
Evelyn moved closer.
“I’m sorry.”
Nathan looked toward Emma.
Emma remained silent.
Evelyn put her hand against the glass.
“Mom told me you were destroying us.”
Emma’s face hardened.
Evelyn continued.
“She told me you were trying to steal the company.”
“I believed her.”
Emma stepped closer.
“And that gave you the right to push me?”
Evelyn began sobbing.
“No.”
“I thought—”
“You didn’t think.”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“I know.”
Emma stared.
“You could have killed my child.”
“I know.”
Nathan whispered.
“Emma.”
She raised one hand.
“No.”
Nathan stopped.
Emma looked directly through the glass.
“You will tell the police exactly what happened.”
Evelyn nodded quickly.
“Yes.”
“Everything.”
“Yes.”
“Every lie.”
“Yes.”
“Every account.”
Evelyn hesitated.
Emma noticed.
“What?”
Evelyn looked terrified.
Nathan stepped toward the window.
“What accounts?”
Evelyn shook her head.
“Mom said she would kill me.”
Nathan’s face changed.
“What did you do?”
Evelyn covered her mouth.
Emma stared.
“What accounts?”
Evelyn’s voice became a whisper.
“The ones in your name.”
Nathan froze.
“What?”
Evelyn looked at him.
“Mom opened them years ago.”
“She used your identity.”
Nathan stepped backward.
Emma felt her stomach drop.
The folder.
Nathan’s name.
Evelyn continued.
“She said if anything ever went wrong…”
Her voice broke.
“…you would take the fall.”
A sound echoed from the far end of the corridor.
Metal scraping.
Rebecca turned.
Hayes raised his weapon.
Nathan looked down the corridor.
A door slowly opened.
Margaret Whitmore stepped out.
She wore the same cream blouse from the mansion.
But the elegance was gone.
Her hair was loose.
Blood stained one sleeve.
And in her hand was a pistol.
She looked at Nathan.
Then Emma.
Then Rebecca.
Her face changed.
For the first time in twenty-three years, Margaret Whitmore saw the woman she thought she had buried.
Rebecca stared back.
Margaret whispered.
“You.”
May you like
Rebecca raised her gun.
“Me.”
