Chapter 4 - The Blue DoorGrant Mercer answered Daniel's call on the second ring.
“Daniel? Any news?”
Daniel stood in the hallway outside his office, staring at the server log Marcus had sent.
“Where are you?”
“At the office.”
“Stay there.”
A pause.
“Why?”
“Because I asked you to.”
“Daniel, what's going on?”
He hung up.
Nora came inside from the pump house.
“Keys?”
Daniel grabbed the utility ring from a drawer.
“Marcus found something.”
He handed her the phone.
Nora read the log.
Her face revealed almost nothing.
“Who's Grant Mercer?”
“My CFO.”
“Friend?”
“For twenty years.”
Vanessa appeared behind them.
Nora looked at her.
“You said he used your laptop.”
“Once.”
“Apparently he logged in three nights ago.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“He wasn't here.”
Daniel turned.
“You're sure?”
“Yes.”
“Then why does the system say his account accessed the pool plans from your laptop?”
“I don't know.”
Nora asked, “Does Mercer have remote access?”
Daniel rubbed his forehead.
“To company systems. Not my house.”
“Apparently he has more access than you thought.”
They returned to the blue door.
None of the keys worked.
Daniel finally took a hammer from the tool shelf.
Nora blocked him.
“Evidence.”
“My daughter may be behind that door.”
That changed things.
Nora called for officers and emergency personnel while Daniel searched for another access point.
The blue door itself was steel.
The lock was commercial grade.
One responding firefighter arrived with tools and forced it open within minutes.
Cold air moved through the doorway.
Beyond it was a narrow corridor.
Concrete walls.
Utility lights.
Old electrical conduit.
Daniel pushed forward.
Nora caught his shoulder.
“Behind me.”
“No.”
“If someone's down there, I need you not contaminating everything.”
“If Maya's down there—”
“I know.”
Her voice stopped him.
Nora moved first.
Daniel followed two officers.
Vanessa remained outside under instruction.
The passage descended beneath the pool.
Daniel could hear the filtration system through the walls.
Twenty feet in, the corridor divided.
One branch led toward a storage room filled with old furniture.
Another ended at a sealed wall.
No Maya.
Daniel's hope collapsed so violently he leaned against the concrete.
“There has to be more.”
Nora swept her flashlight across the corridor.
“According to the plans?”
Daniel had printed the architectural file.
He unfolded it.
The drawing showed a rectangular lower service area beneath part of the pool.
But the dimensions were wrong.
Daniel measured with his eyes.
“This corridor should go farther.”
One officer tapped the wall.
Solid.
Nora examined the base.
“There.”
A faint line ran vertically through the concrete finish.
A concealed seam.
Daniel stepped closer.
“Open it.”
They searched for a latch.
Nothing.
Nora found a small recessed plate hidden behind an electrical panel.
Empty screw holes surrounded it.
“Something was removed.”
Daniel stared at the blueprint.
The lower chamber had originally been designed during a major renovation twelve years earlier.
He remembered that renovation.
Elise had been alive then.
Maya had been a baby.
Daniel had barely paid attention because his father still handled most of the estate.
Grant, however, had supervised several construction payments through the company.
Daniel felt sick.
An officer called from the storage room.
“Detective?”
They went inside.
Dust covered most of the floor.
Except for one rectangular space.
Something had recently been moved.
A metal shelving unit stood crooked against the opposite wall.
Behind it were wheel marks.
Nora followed them.
A second concealed panel.
This one had a handle.
Daniel reached for it.
Nora stopped him, photographed everything, then opened it.
Another passage.
Narrower.
Newer.
Daniel smelled bleach.
He ran.
Nora shouted after him.
At the end stood a transparent wall.
Beyond it was blue water.
Not open water.
A viewing panel built against the deepest section of the pool.
And on the dry side of the glass was a small chamber.
Blankets.
Food wrappers.
A plastic water bottle.
A child's sneaker.
Daniel hit the panel.
“Maya!”
No answer.
The chamber was empty.
Daniel screamed her name.
Nora entered behind him.
She stared at the bedding.
“Someone was here recently.”
Daniel pressed his hand to the acrylic.
A child's handprint marked the other side.
Small.
At Maya's height.
He closed his eyes.
“She was here.”
Nora looked around the room.
“No obvious blood.”
Daniel turned toward her.
“That's supposed to make me feel better?”
“No. It's supposed to tell you what we know.”
An officer found a ventilation duct.
Another found empty granola wrappers.
Nora photographed a plastic cup.
Daniel saw a yellow thread caught beneath the blanket.
Maya had been wearing a yellow sweater the day she disappeared.
He picked it up before Nora could stop him.
“Maya.”
A sound came from somewhere behind the wall.
Three soft knocks.
Daniel froze.
“Did you hear that?”
Everyone went silent.
Nothing.
Then again.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Daniel moved toward the rear corner.
“Maya?”
The sound came faster.
Nora swept her flashlight over the floor.
A steel plate had been placed beneath a rug.
They pulled the rug away.
A recessed hatch.
Daniel dropped to his knees.
“Maya!”
This time he heard something.
Faint.
A child's voice.
“Dad?”
Daniel made a sound that was almost a sob.
The hatch was locked.
Nora shouted for the firefighters.
Daniel pressed both palms against the metal.
“I'm here! Baby, I'm here!”
Below him, Maya began crying.
The firefighters reached them with a hydraulic tool.
The lock broke.
Daniel lifted the hatch.
A ladder descended into a second, smaller dry compartment.
Maya stood at the bottom.
Dirty.
Pale.
Terrified.
Alive.
Daniel climbed down so fast he nearly fell.
Maya launched herself into him.
He held her against his chest while she screamed and cried.
“I knew you'd come.”
“I've got you.”
“I knew you'd come.”
Daniel kissed her hair.
“I've got you. I've got you.”
Above them, Nora turned away for a moment to give them privacy.
Then Maya pulled back.
Her face changed.
“Dad.”
“What?”
“You have to believe me.”
“I believe you.”
“Vanessa put me here.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
The words hurt, but they did not surprise him anymore.
Maya gripped his shirt.
“She said she was sorry.”
Daniel opened his eyes.
“What do you mean?”
“She kept saying she didn't want to do it.”
Maya began shaking.
“But she wasn't alone.”
Daniel went still.
Nora leaned toward the hatch.
“Maya, who else was there?”
The girl looked upward.
“I never saw his face.”
Daniel's throat tightened.
“But I heard him.”
“What did he say?”
Maya swallowed.
“He told Vanessa, ‘Keep her hidden until Daniel signs.’”
Daniel stared at Nora.
May you like
Then Maya whispered one more thing.
“He called you his oldest friend.”
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