Chapter 2 - THE WOMAN BEHIND THE WALL
The officers ordered everyone away from the hallway.
One stayed with Adrian near the entrance.
Two others followed Maya toward the basement stairs.
I tried to stand.
The paramedic pressed a hand against my shoulder.
“You may have a concussion.”
“There is someone down there.”
“And you will not help them by collapsing.”
His words were sensible.
My body did not care.
I rose slowly and followed at a distance.
The staircase descended beneath the west wing of the estate.
The air became colder with every step.
Rows of expensive wine bottles lined the stone walls.
At the far end stood a carved wooden door secured by a digital lock.
Maya pointed toward a wine rack beside it.
“That rack moves.”
Charles appeared at the top of the stairs.
“This search is illegal.”
An officer turned.
“Go back upstairs.”
“You are trespassing.”
The officer’s voice hardened.
“Go back upstairs now.”
Charles hesitated.
Then another pounding sound came from behind the wall.
The officers pulled the wine rack aside.
A narrow metal door stood behind it.
There was no handle on the outside.
Only a keypad.
Maya entered six numbers.
The light flashed red.
“They changed it,” she whispered.
One officer radioed for equipment.
The other struck the door with the heel of his boot.
It did not move.
From inside, a woman’s voice cried out.
“Please.”
The single word was weak.
Terrified.
Alive.
The officer kicked the door again.
A third officer arrived carrying a pry bar.
Together, they forced the metal frame apart.
The lock snapped.
The door opened into a windowless room.
A woman sat on a narrow cot beneath a bare lightbulb.
Her wrists were bruised.
Her dark hair hung in tangled strands around her face.
A plastic tray of untouched food rested near the wall.
Beside it stood three cardboard boxes filled with documents.
The woman recoiled when the officers approached.
“You’re safe,” one of them said.
She stared past him.
Her eyes found Charles at the top of the stairs.
She began shaking.
“No.”
Charles’s face went completely blank.
The woman pointed toward him.
“Do not let him near me.”
The officers immediately moved Charles away from the staircase.
The paramedics rushed down.
As they helped the woman stand, she looked at me.
Recognition entered her expression.
“You’re Claire Bennett.”
I had never seen her before.
“How do you know my name?”
She started to answer.
Then her knees buckled.
A paramedic caught her before she struck the floor.
They placed her on a stretcher.
As they carried her upstairs, one of the officers opened the nearest box.
Inside were copies of my mortgage statements.
My bank records.
My employment contracts.
Photographs of me leaving my office.
Printed maps showing the entrances to my condominium building.
There was also a document bearing what appeared to be my signature.
The title at the top made my stomach turn.
IRREVOCABLE PROPERTY TRANSFER AGREEMENT.
The signature looked almost perfect.
Almost.
But I knew I had never signed it.
The officer held it under the light.
“Ms. Bennett, is this yours?”
“No.”
Maya stared at the document.
“They were going to file it Monday.”
I turned toward her.
“How do you know?”
“Because I heard Charles tell Adrian the notary was ready.”
The officer opened a second folder.
Inside were photographs of the woman they had just rescued.
In one picture, she was wearing a business suit and standing outside a law office.
A handwritten label appeared beneath her face.
JULIA MARSH - FORMER CALDWELL ACCOUNTANT.
Another note had been written across the bottom.
PROBLEM CONTAINED.
The officer closed the folder.
His jaw tightened.
“This house is now a major crime scene.”
From upstairs, Eleanor screamed.
Then came the sound of glass breaking.
May you like
By the time we reached the dining room, she was standing beside the fireplace.
A pile of documents burned at her feet.
