Chapter 2 - THE MESSAGE ANNA LEFT BEHINDEthan read the message twice.
The letters blurred in front of him.
Anna had written the warning before her death nearly two years earlier.
At that time, Celeste had been Anna’s closest friend.
She had attended family dinners.
She had accompanied Anna to charity events.
She had comforted Ethan after the fatal car accident.
Ten months later, Celeste became his wife.
Ethan had believed Anna would have wanted someone familiar to care for Sophie.
Now Anna’s handwriting told him she had feared Celeste.
Beneath the first sentence was a second line.
The blue key is where Sophie sleeps with the stars.
The final line was shorter.
Richard is not her cousin.
Ethan looked up.
Richard was gone.
Celeste remained on the staircase.
Her face had lost all color.
“What did Anna write?” she asked.
Ethan placed the photograph inside his jacket.
“You already know.”
“I have no idea.”
“Then why were you leaving with my daughter’s passport?”
Celeste descended one careful step.
“It was supposed to be a surprise.”
“A surprise inside a locked suitcase?”
Sophie buried her face against Ethan’s shoulder.
Celeste’s voice became softer.
“Sophie had a tantrum.”
“I didn’t.”
The child’s words were quiet but firm.
“She told me to get inside.”
Celeste’s expression tightened.
“She was playing a game.”
“You locked her in.”
“Only for a moment.”
“You were carrying airline tickets.”
Celeste looked toward the passports scattered across the floor.
“We were going to meet you in Switzerland.”
Ethan stared at her.
“I have no meetings in Switzerland.”
“You mentioned Zurich last month.”
“I mentioned a conference that was canceled.”
Celeste glanced toward the hallway where Richard had disappeared.
Ethan noticed the movement.
“Why was Richard upstairs without his shirt?”
“He spilled coffee on himself.”
“In my bedroom?”
“It was not your bedroom.”
Sophie lifted her head.
“It was Mommy’s room.”
Silence filled the mansion.
Anna’s bedroom had remained untouched since her death.
Ethan had kept the door locked.
He carried the only key.
At least, he believed he did.
Ethan set Sophie safely on the sofa and told her to remain near him.
Then he walked toward the scattered travel documents.
There were three passports.
One belonged to Celeste.
One belonged to Sophie.
The third carried Richard’s photograph under a different name.
DANIEL CROSS.
The tickets were for a flight leaving from a private airport in less than three hours.
The destination was Zurich.
Ethan turned toward Celeste.
May you like
“Who is Daniel Cross?”
Before she could answer, the mansion lights went out.
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