Chapter 1 - THE BASEMENT DOOR
The first police officer entered the dining room with one hand resting near his holster.
His eyes moved from the shattered plate to the blood on my blouse.
Then he looked at Adrian.
“Sir, step away from her.”
Adrian lifted both hands.
“This is a family misunderstanding.”
The officer’s expression did not change.
“Turn around.”
Eleanor rushed forward.
“My son is not dangerous.”
The second officer entered behind him.
A pair of paramedics followed with a medical bag and a stretcher.
“He attacked me with that plate,” I said.
I pointed toward the porcelain fragments scattered across the table.
The first officer looked at the twenty silent witnesses.
“Who saw what happened?”
No one answered.
Not one person.
Maya remained beside me.
Her face was pale.
Her hands trembled against the sides of her dress.
“I saw it,” she whispered.
Adrian’s head snapped toward her.
“Maya, think carefully.”
She flinched.
The officer immediately stepped between them.
“Do not speak to the witness.”
A paramedic guided me into a chair and pressed gauze against my temple.
He asked me my name, the date, and whether I had lost consciousness.
I answered every question.
Across the room, an officer secured Adrian’s wrists behind his back.
Eleanor began crying.
They were not tears for me.
They were tears for the son who had finally faced a consequence.
Charles moved toward the officers.
“I am an attorney.”
The officer glanced at him.
“Then you understand why interfering would be a bad idea.”
Charles stopped.
That was when Maya gripped my shoulder.
Her fingers were ice cold.
“The basement,” she said again.
The nearest officer turned toward her.
“What is in the basement?”
Maya looked at Charles.
He stared back at her with a warning so clear that even the paramedic noticed.
“Ma’am,” the officer said.
“You are safe to answer.”
Maya swallowed.
“There is a locked room behind the wine cellar.”
Eleanor’s crying stopped.
Charles stepped forward.
“There is no such room.”
Maya’s voice cracked.
“Yes, there is.”
Adrian twisted against the handcuffs.
“Keep your mouth shut.”
The officer tightened his grip on Adrian’s arm.
Maya closed her eyes.
When she opened them again, years of fear seemed to fall away.
“There are files down there.”
“What kind of files?” I asked.
She looked directly at me.
“Files about you.”
A terrible silence filled the dining room.
My pulse hammered behind the wound in my head.
Maya leaned closer.
“They have been planning to take your condo for months.”
The officer asked her where the basement entrance was located.
She pointed toward the hallway.
Charles blocked the doorway.
“You do not have permission to search my home.”
The officer looked at the blood running through my hair.
Then he looked at Maya.
“We have an assault scene, a witness reporting evidence connected to the victim, and possible ongoing criminal activity.”
He reached for his radio.
“We are securing the residence while we contact a judge.”
Charles’s confidence flickered.
It lasted less than a second.
But I saw it.
So did Maya.
As Adrian was led toward the front door, he looked over his shoulder at me.
“You have no idea what you are doing.”
I held the gauze against my head.
“No, Adrian.”
“For the first time, I know exactly what I am doing.”
Then a heavy crash came from beneath the floor.
Everyone froze.
The sound came again.
Three desperate blows from somewhere below us.
The officer drew his weapon.
May you like
Maya covered her mouth.
“That room is not empty.”
