Chapter 13: The Girl in the Mansion
Chapter 13: The Girl in the Mansion
For one long, terrifying moment, no one moved.
I looked at Maya.
She was holding my hand.
Alive.
Safe.
Then I looked back at Agent Ross.
"If Maya is here..."
"...who's with Victor?"
Ross grabbed the radio.
"Describe the child."
The bomb technician answered immediately.
"Female."
"Approximately nine or ten years old."
"Long dark hair."
"Wearing a gray hoodie."
My heart skipped.
That was exactly how Maya had looked only hours earlier.
Marcus frowned.
"Could it be another hostage?"
Grace slowly shook her head.
"No."
Victor planned everything.
"If she's there..."
"...she's there for a reason."
The Mansion Cameras
The FBI tapped into the mansion's internal security system.
Most of the cameras had been destroyed.
But one remained operational.
The dining room.
The monitor flickered.
Victor Harrington stood at the head of the table.
The same table where Eleanor had hosted her dinner party.
The candles had burned down to pools of hardened wax.
The expensive dishes still sat untouched.
Victor smiled calmly.
Beside him stood the little girl.
Her back faced the camera.
She wore Maya's oversized gray sweatshirt.
Her hair covered her face.
For one heartbreaking second...
I almost believed it was my daughter.
Then the girl turned.
It wasn't Maya.
She looked similar.
Same age.
Same height.
But she was someone else.
Agent Ross exhaled.
"Thank God."
I stared at the screen.
"Who is she?"
Emily
Victor gently rested a hand on the girl's shoulder.
"My name is Emily," she whispered toward the camera.
She looked terrified.
Victor smiled.
"Emily has been with me for almost two years."
My stomach turned.
He looked directly into the camera.
"She reminded me of Maya."
"So I kept her."
Agent Ross whispered,
"He's confessing."
Victor laughed softly.
"Oh, Agent Ross..."
"You still think this is about confession?"
He crouched beside Emily.
"Tell Richard what I taught you."
Emily's voice shook.
"Families..."
"...always leave."
Tears filled my eyes.
Victor had broken her the same way he had tried to break Maya.
Maya Speaks
Maya stepped toward the monitor.
"Emily!"
The little girl looked up in surprise.
For the first time...
Hope appeared in her eyes.
"Maya?"
Victor slowly turned toward the camera.
"So..."
"They've found you."
He didn't seem angry.
He almost looked pleased.
"You've always been clever."
Maya tightened her grip on my hand.
"Please let her go."
Victor smiled sadly.
"I wanted to let you both grow up together."
"You could have been sisters."
"No."
Maya's voice became stronger.
"Sisters protect each other."
"They don't lock each other in cages."
Even Agent Ross looked surprised.
My little girl...
Who had spent months living in fear...
Was standing up to the man who had terrorized all of us.
Victor remained silent for several seconds.
Then he laughed.
"You have your mother's courage."
Sarah's Final Recording
Grace suddenly remembered something.
"The locket."
"There was a second file."
Daniel quickly searched the memory card.
Hidden beneath the first recording was another encrypted video.
He opened it.
Sarah appeared once again.
She looked directly into the camera.
"Richard...
If Victor has taken another child...
Then you've reached the final part of the truth."
Everyone stared at the screen.
How had Sarah known?
She continued.
"Victor never wanted wealth alone.
He wanted obedience."
Grace quietly wiped away tears.
Sarah continued.
"He believes children are easier to shape than adults.
Every child he takes becomes part of his 'perfect family.'"
Agent Ross whispered,
"My God..."
Sarah nodded slowly.
"Find the children.
Every one of them."
The Real Evidence
Marcus suddenly entered carrying a thick binder recovered from the underground tunnels.
"Ross."
"You need this."
Inside were dozens of photographs.
Children.
Different ages.
Different states.
Some had been missing for years.
Others had never been identified.
Each page contained notes.
Behavior.
Education.
Medical history.
Punishments.
Rewards.
Victor hadn't simply kidnapped children.
He had studied them.
Controlled them.
Collected them.
Ross closed the binder slowly.
"This ends today."
The Countdown
Back at the Sterling estate, bomb technicians continued working beneath the mansion.
The digital timer now read:
03:11:42
Just over three hours remained.
One technician called out.
"I found the primary detonator."
Another shook his head.
"No."
"There are three."
A third voice echoed from deeper beneath the foundation.
"Actually..."
"...there are four."
Marcus frowned.
"He's layered the system."
The lead bomb technician nodded grimly.
"If we disable the wrong sequence..."
"...the entire estate detonates."
Victor's Invitation
The monitor flickered again.
Victor looked directly into the camera.
"Richard."
"I have one final offer."
I stepped closer.
"I'm listening."
"Come home."
"Alone."
"And Emily?"
"I'll release her."
"And the bombs?"
"You'll see."
Ross shook his head immediately.
"It's a trap."
Victor smiled.
"Of course it is."
He paused.
"But every father chooses differently."
He looked down at Emily.
Then back into the camera.
"You have one hour."
"If you don't come..."
"...this little girl dies with the house."
The screen went black.
Silence filled the command center.
Agent Ross turned toward me.
"You are not going."
I looked at Maya.
Then at Emily's frightened face frozen on the monitor.
Finally, I spoke.
"Victor doesn't want money."
Ross nodded.
"I know."
"He doesn't want revenge anymore."
"What does he want?"
I took a slow breath.
"He wants me."
At that exact moment, my phone vibrated.
One new message.
No sender.
Only six words.
May you like
Come alone... or lose them both.
End of Chapter 13
