Chapter 4 - The Secret Behind the Birthday SurpriseEvelyn stared at Daniel's phone as though the glowing screen were an insult.
“You cannot seriously believe I kidnapped my own granddaughter.”
“Then explain the cameras,” Daniel answered.
“I turned them off because the electricians were working in that area.”
“Which electricians?”
Evelyn hesitated.
Sarah noticed.
She had spent seven years watching this woman control every conversation, every holiday gathering, every disagreement. Evelyn never hesitated unless she was deciding which version of the truth would serve her best.
“Daniel,” Sarah said, “we're wasting time.”
He turned toward the security supervisor.
“Call the police.”
Evelyn's composure cracked.
“You will not bring police officers into my home over a child's misunderstanding.”
“Our home,” Daniel corrected.
She stared at him.
The distinction mattered.
The Whitmore mansion had belonged to Daniel's late father, Richard. Although Evelyn lived there and controlled its household staff, the property had passed into a family trust after Richard's death.
Daniel and his daughter were beneficiaries.
Evelyn enjoyed lifetime occupancy rights under certain conditions.
Sarah had never paid much attention to the arrangement.
Now she wondered why Evelyn always referred to the mansion as hers.
The locksmith arrived fifteen minutes later.
He examined the locked door and frowned.
“This isn't an original lock.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“What is it?”
“Commercial security hardware. Installed recently.”
“How recently?”
“Judging by the screws and fresh paint around the frame? Within the last month.”
Sarah looked at Evelyn.
Three weeks earlier.
That was when Mia had discovered the silver key.
The locksmith began working.
Sarah heard footsteps behind her.
A woman in a navy housekeeper's uniform approached, carrying a folded towel.
It was Helen Carter, the mansion's longest-serving employee.
Helen had worked for the Whitmore family for twenty-six years. She knew which floorboards creaked, which windows refused to close, and which family photographs Evelyn had ordered removed from the walls.
She looked frightened.
“Mrs. Sarah,” Helen whispered.
Sarah turned.
“What is it?”
Helen glanced toward Evelyn.
Then she lowered her voice.
“There's something you should know.”
Evelyn noticed them.
“Helen, go back to the kitchen.”
Helen froze.
Sarah took a step toward her.
“Tell me.”
The housekeeper swallowed.
“Mrs. Evelyn ordered a private delivery yesterday. Children's furniture. Blankets. A small bed.”
Sarah felt the corridor tilt.
“Where was it delivered?”
Helen looked toward the locked door.
“Here.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“What?”
“I was told not to speak about it.”
Evelyn marched toward them.
“Helen, you are dismissed.”
The housekeeper flinched.
Sarah moved between them.
“No. She isn't.”
Evelyn's voice dropped.
“You have no authority over my employees.”
Daniel spoke quietly.
“She works for the estate management company. And you're not dismissing anyone today.”
The locksmith suddenly stepped away.
The door opened.
Sarah rushed forward.
Inside was a small room painted pale green.
There was a child-sized bed, a table, a pitcher of water, and a pink blanket folded neatly against the pillow.
A birthday present sat unopened on the floor.
Sarah recognized the wrapping.
She had bought it herself.
A wooden music box for Mia.
But Mia was nowhere to be seen.
Daniel entered behind her.
“Where is she?”
Nobody answered.
Sarah approached the bed.
The pillow had a small indentation.
Someone had been lying there recently.
Then she spotted a sheet of paper beneath the music box.
It was a child's drawing.
Two stick figures stood outside a large gray house.
One figure had long brown hair.
The other was much smaller.
Across the top, in Mia's uneven handwriting, were four words.
GRANDMA SAYS MOMMY LEAVES.
Sarah's throat tightened.
Behind her, Evelyn whispered, “You don't understand.”
Sarah turned.
“Then make me understand.”
Evelyn looked toward the far wall.
And Sarah realized that the room contained something she had overlooked.
May you like
A second door.
Its outline had been concealed beneath the same pale green paint.
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