Chapter 4 - THE WOMAN WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD
Hannah sat on the edge of her bed, staring at the photograph.
Victor remained silent on the phone.
She finally whispered, “You said your wife died.”
“She did.”
“Then why would someone send me a picture of her?”
“I don't know.”
“Victor, what exactly is going on?”
He didn't answer immediately.
When he finally spoke, his voice was tired.
“There's something you need to understand about my family.”
Hannah waited.
“My wife died in a car accident three years ago.”
“I'm sorry.”
“She was driving alone.”
“And?”
“And Matthew was with her.”
Hannah's heart stopped.
“What?”
“He survived.”
The photograph suddenly felt heavier in her hand.
“What happened?”
Victor took a slow breath.
“The official report said the accident was caused by mechanical failure.”
“But you don't believe that.”
“No.”
Hannah stood.
“Why?”
“Because Eleanor had been receiving threats.”
The room seemed colder.
“From whom?”
“I don't know.”
“Then why did you say her name?”
“Because the photograph you received isn't the first time someone has tried to make me believe she is still alive.”
Hannah stared at the picture again.
“Who took it?”
“I don't know.”
“Then how do you know it has anything to do with Eleanor?”
“Because of Matthew.”
Hannah frowned.
“What does Matthew know?”
“He remembers things from before the accident.”
“Like the red door?”
Victor went silent.
Hannah realized she had touched something important.
“What is behind that door?”
“I don't know.”
“Victor.”
“I've spent three years trying to find out.”
That afternoon, Hannah went to Romano's anyway.
Victor had told her not to leave home.
She had ignored him.
Mrs. Romano was furious.
“You could have been hurt!”
“I couldn't just stay inside.”
“Why not?”
Hannah hesitated.
“Someone is threatening me because of a child.”
Mrs. Romano stared at her.
Then her expression softened.
“Matthew?”
Hannah nodded.
Mrs. Romano closed the restaurant early.
“You need to tell me everything.”
So Hannah did.
Not every detail.
But enough.
By evening, Victor arrived.
He brought Michael and another man.
“This is Daniel Reed,” Victor said.
Daniel was a former detective who now worked as a private investigator.
He placed a folder on the table.
“We traced the photograph.”
“To whom?”
“Not directly.”
He opened the folder.
“But we found something.”
Inside was an old photograph of Eleanor Davis.
Hannah stared.
She looked remarkably similar to the woman in Matthew's drawing.
Then Daniel placed another photograph beside it.
A photograph of a red door.
Hannah's breathing stopped.
“Where is that?”
“Albany.”
Victor looked at her.
“My wife owned a house there.”
Hannah stared at him.
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
“Because nobody has lived there since she died.”
Daniel continued.
“We checked the property last week.”
“And?”
“The front door had been replaced.”
Hannah frowned.
“That doesn't sound important.”
Daniel shook his head.
“The replacement was painted red.”
Silence filled the restaurant.
Matthew, who had been sitting nearby, suddenly looked up.
“The red door.”
Victor immediately turned toward him.
Matthew's eyes filled with tears.
“She said I had to remember.”
“Who said that?”
Matthew covered his ears.
“Mom.”
Victor went pale.
Hannah moved closer.
“Matthew.”
The boy looked at her.
“She said if something happened, I should remember the red door.”
Victor knelt in front of his son.
“What else did she say?”
Matthew shook his head.
“I don't know.”
Then he whispered.
“There was a box.”
“What box?”
“Under the floor.”
Daniel exchanged a glance with Victor.
That night, they drove to Albany.
Hannah went with them.
She didn't know why.
Perhaps because she had already become part of the mystery.
Perhaps because Matthew kept holding her hand.
The house stood at the end of a quiet street.
Old.
Dark.
Abandoned.
Victor unlocked the front door.
The red paint looked strangely fresh.
Inside, the air smelled of dust.
They searched the rooms.
Nothing.
Then Matthew stopped in the hallway.
He pointed toward the floor.
“There.”
Victor pulled up the loose wooden panel.
Beneath it was a metal box.
Inside was a flash drive, several photographs, and a handwritten letter.
Victor unfolded the letter.
His face changed.
“What does it say?” Hannah asked.
Victor handed it to her.
The letter was from Eleanor.
It contained only a few lines.
IF YOU ARE READING THIS, IT MEANS THEY FOUND US.
DON'T TRUST THE POLICE.
DON'T TRUST MY BROTHER.
AND MOST OF ALL, DON'T TRUST THE MAN WHO CALLS HIMSELF DAVID.
Hannah looked up.
“Who is David?”
Victor's face had gone completely white.
“My brother.”
Then the lights in the house suddenly went out.
Matthew screamed.
A door slammed somewhere downstairs.
Daniel reached for his weapon.
Victor pulled Hannah and Matthew behind him.
Footsteps moved through the darkness.
Slow.
Measured.
Coming closer.
Then a man's voice echoed through the hallway.
“Victor.”
Victor froze.
May you like
The voice came again.
“You were always terrible at hiding things.”
