Chapter 5 - THE ROOM BEHIND THE CLOCKRory moved toward the sound.
I grabbed his arm.
“Wait.”
He turned sharply.
“My daughter is in there.”
“And that's exactly what they want.”
He stopped.
The crying continued.
“Daddy!”
Rory closed his eyes.
Then he looked at me.
“You're right.”
We searched the clock.
The sound wasn't coming from behind it.
It was coming from the ventilation system.
Rory pulled the grille loose.
A small speaker was hidden inside.
The crying stopped.
A recording began.
Rose's voice.
“Daddy, please.”
Rory's face crumpled for one second.
Then he forced himself back into control.
Marianne examined the speaker.
“This isn't live.”
“How do you know?”
“Because the recording is from yesterday.”
Rory looked at her.
“How?”
She pointed toward the file indicator.
“It has a timestamp.”
He stared at the speaker.
“They're not in the walls.”
“No.”
“Then where?”
Celeste suddenly whispered.
“The old chapel.”
Rory looked at her.
“You said nobody knew about it.”
“I thought nobody did.”
We ran.
The chapel sat behind the eastern garden, hidden beneath a line of trees.
Rory unlocked the door.
Inside were old wooden benches, a small altar, and a stained-glass window depicting two angels.
Lily's pink ribbon lay on the floor.
Rory picked it up.
“She's been here.”
Marianne shook her head.
“Maybe.”
Rory looked at her.
“What does that mean?”
She pointed toward the altar.
There was fresh dust around one stone.
Rory moved it.
A narrow compartment opened.
Inside was a stack of documents.
Not legal papers.
Photographs.
Dozens of them.
The twins at school.
The twins at the park.
The twins asleep.
Rory's hands tightened around the pictures.
Someone had been watching them for years.
Not months.
Years.
Then he found one photograph that stopped him.
Elena was holding newborn Lily.
Beside her stood David Vale.
On the back was a date.
The day Lily and Rose were born.
Rory looked at Marianne.
“Why was David here?”
Marianne didn't answer.
Celeste did.
“Because David was Elena's doctor.”
Rory stared.
“He wasn't their doctor.”
“He was.”
The silence was heavy.
Marianne finally spoke.
“David helped Elena through the pregnancy.”
Rory looked confused.
“Why didn't I know?”
“Because Elena asked him not to tell you.”
“Why?”
Marianne's eyes filled.
“Because she was afraid.”
“Of me?”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“Of what would happen if you discovered the girls had been targeted before they were even born.”
Rory stared at the photographs.
A small envelope was hidden beneath them.
Inside was a ticket.
An old train ticket from Chicago to St. Louis.
The date was five years earlier.
The day Elena died.
Rory's face changed.
“She wasn't supposed to be in that car.”
Marianne nodded.
“She was supposed to leave.”
“Leave me?”
“Leave the city.”
“Why?”
Marianne looked at Celeste.
Celeste whispered, “Because she had discovered who was using the Starks foundation.”
Rory froze.
“What?”
Marianne explained.
“Money was disappearing.”
“How much?”
“Enough to buy silence.”
Rory stared at the ticket.
“Who was taking it?”
Marianne hesitated.
“David.”
The name landed hard.
“But David died years ago.”
“He didn't act alone.”
Rory looked at the photographs again.
“Who helped him?”
Marianne's silence answered before her words did.
“Someone inside your family.”
Rory looked at Celeste.
She shook her head.
“It wasn't me.”
“I know.”
“Then who?”
Marianne looked toward the chapel door.
“The person who inherited David's assets.”
A branch snapped outside.
Everyone turned.
A shadow moved across the stained glass.
Rory drew his gun.
“Stay back.”
The door opened.
A man stepped inside.
He was older, gray-haired, wearing a dark coat.
Rory's face went blank.
“Frank?”
Frank Mercer had been Rory's father's accountant.
He had disappeared after Elena's death.
Rory aimed at him.
“Where are my daughters?”
Frank raised both hands.
“I didn't take them.”
“Then why are you here?”
“To stop you from making the same mistake Elena made.”
Rory stepped closer.
“What mistake?”
Frank looked at the old photograph.
“Trusting the wrong person.”
He pulled a small key from his pocket.
A key with two initials engraved on it.
D.V.
Marianne gasped.
Frank said quietly, “David wasn't the mastermind.”
Rory's eyes narrowed.
“Then who was?”
Frank looked directly at Celeste.
“She was.”
Celeste staggered backward.
“No.”
Rory turned toward his sister.
“Celeste?”
She shook her head violently.
“I didn't do this.”
Frank's voice remained calm.
“She didn't.”
Rory looked confused.
Frank continued.
“Her name is on the records because she was protecting the real person.”
“Who?”
Frank looked toward the chapel window.
A car was approaching the mansion.
May you like
Then he whispered,
“The person who raised those girls while you were grieving.”
