Chapter 2 - THE BOY BEHIND THE BRICKSDavid moved Ethan’s bed away from the wall.
Several bricks had been placed more recently than the others.
The mortar surrounding them was pale and uneven.
David struck the wall with the handle of his flashlight.
One brick shifted.
Emma helped him pull it loose.
Behind it was a narrow cavity.
A silver metal box sat inside.
The box was no larger than a shoebox.
A strip of blue tape crossed its lid.
Written on the tape were three words.
FOR WILLIAM ONLY.
Emma recognized the handwriting.
It belonged to Caroline Sterling, William’s late wife.
Caroline had died eighteen months earlier after a sudden illness.
She had been warm, observant, and deeply protective of Ethan.
Emma remembered seeing her write notes in the kitchen every morning.
The same rounded letters had appeared on Ethan’s school lunches.
David lifted the box from the wall.
The alarm became louder.
A mechanical voice echoed through the basement.
“Security breach detected.”
Ethan covered his ears.
Emma placed an arm around him.
“Is there another way out?”
David pointed toward a narrow service tunnel behind the room.
“It leads to the old carriage house.”
“Then let’s go.”
David tried the tunnel door.
It was locked.
He tested three keys before finding the correct one.
The door opened onto a low passage filled with pipes.
Emma guided Ethan inside.
David followed with the silver box.
The basement lights turned red.
A woman’s voice came through the speakers.
“Emma.”
Isabella sounded calm.
Her voice was almost gentle.
Emma stopped.
“You have entered a restricted area.”
Ethan pressed closer to her.
“Return upstairs immediately.”
Emma looked at David.
He silently shook his head.
Isabella continued.
“Ethan is emotionally unstable.”
The boy began trembling.
“He has been placed in temporary isolation under a doctor’s supervision.”
Emma felt anger rise through her fear.
“Temporary isolation?”
She spoke loudly enough for the microphone to catch her voice.
“You locked a nine-year-old child behind a steel door.”
“He presented a danger to himself and others.”
“That is a lie.”
“You are a housekeeper, Emma.”
Isabella’s voice sharpened.
“You are not qualified to make medical decisions.”
“I’m qualified to know when a child is terrified.”
There was silence.
Then Isabella laughed softly.
“You should have stayed in the ballroom.”
A metal barrier began descending at the far end of the tunnel.
David grabbed Ethan’s hand.
“Run.”
They moved through the passage.
The ceiling was so low that David had to bend forward.
Emma could hear machinery operating behind them.
Another barrier dropped from the ceiling.
It slammed into the floor inches behind David.
The tunnel lights flickered.
They reached an intersection.
David pointed left.
“The carriage house is this way.”
Ethan pulled against Emma’s hand.
“No.”
“What is it?”
“She expects us to go there.”
“How do you know?”
“She told the doctor that anyone who found me would use the carriage tunnel.”
David studied the pipes overhead.
“The right passage leads toward the boiler room.”
“Does it connect to the mansion?”
“It should.”
They turned right.
Isabella’s voice returned.
“You cannot protect him.”
Emma kept moving.
“You don’t know what you found.”
Emma looked at the silver box beneath David’s arm.
“No.”
She spoke toward the nearest camera.
“But you’re terrified that we found it.”
The speaker went silent.
They reached a wooden door at the end of the passage.
David pushed it open.
Heat rushed over them.
They entered a boiler room filled with old furnaces and copper pipes.
An elderly man in a gray suit stood beside the stairs.
Emma recognized him as Miles Keene, William’s personal attorney.
He was holding a gun.
“Put down the box.”
David stepped in front of Emma and Ethan.
Miles raised the weapon.
“I said put it down.”
Emma stared at the attorney.
Miles had worked for William for nearly fifteen years.
He had attended Caroline’s funeral.
He had stood beside Ethan while the boy placed a white rose on his mother’s casket.
Now he was helping Isabella keep Ethan imprisoned.
“You told William that Ethan was in Maine,” Emma said.
Miles kept the gun steady.
“I told William what he needed to hear.”
Ethan looked up at Emma.
“That’s the man who brought me downstairs.”
Miles glanced at the boy.
“You should not have entered Caroline’s office.”
“I was looking for my mother’s picture.”
“You found something that did not belong to you.”
David slowly lowered the silver box.
Miles watched it.
That moment of distraction was all Emma needed.
She grabbed a metal bucket from the floor and threw it toward the furnace.
The crash echoed through the room.
Miles turned instinctively.
David lunged.
The weapon fell.
Emma pulled Ethan behind a boiler while David wrestled Miles to the ground.
Within seconds, David had taken control of the gun.
Miles stared at him.
“You have no idea what Isabella will do.”
David aimed the weapon toward the floor.
“I know exactly what she has already done.”
A door opened above the stairs.
Footsteps entered the boiler room.
Emma expected Isabella’s private guards.
Instead, William Sterling appeared.
He wore a black tuxedo and held a champagne glass.
His expression moved from confusion to disbelief.
“Ethan?”
May you like
The glass slipped from his hand.
It shattered against the concrete floor.
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