Chapter 3 - THE EMPTY BEDROOM
“She's already gone.”
My words had barely left my mouth when Hector grabbed his phone.
“I'll lock down the property.”
“No.”
He stopped.
“If Chloe sees security moving, she'll know we're watching.”
Hector nodded once.
“Then what?”
I looked at the monitor.
“Find Marisol without letting anyone know.”
He made two calls.
I watched the estate cameras.
The kitchen.
The hallway.
The children's wing.
The front entrance.
Nothing.
Then I saw Sofia.
She was no longer on the couch.
My heart stopped.
“Where's my daughter?”
Hector switched cameras.
The hallway was empty.
Then another feed.
Nothing.
“Bedroom.”
We ran.
I didn't care about being quiet anymore.
I reached Sofia's room and pushed the door open.
She was sitting on the floor beside her bed.
Her stuffed rabbit was in her lap.
Valeria was beside her.
Both girls looked up.
“Daddy?”
Sofia stood.
I dropped to my knees and pulled her into my arms.
She clung to me.
“You came back.”
“I did.”
“You weren't really in Toronto?”
“No.”
“Why?”
I looked at Valeria.
She already knew.
She was nine.
Old enough to understand fear.
Not old enough to deserve it.
“I needed to make sure you were safe.”
Sofia whispered,
“Are we?”
I couldn't lie.
“I'm going to make sure you are.”
Valeria looked toward the hallway.
“Is Chloe here?”
“Yes.”
She lowered her eyes.
“She'll be angry.”
That sentence told me more than forty-three videos.
“Valeria.”
She looked at me.
“Has she hurt you?”
She hesitated.
Then nodded.
My stomach tightened.
“How?”
“She grabs our arms.”
Sofia whispered,
“She doesn't like when we cry.”
I closed my eyes.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
Valeria's voice became very small.
“Because you always believed her.”
That one sentence cut deeper than anything Chloe had said.
I had built a house full of cameras.
Security gates.
Guards.
Locked doors.
And somehow my own daughter had learned that the safest thing she could do was stay quiet.
I hugged her.
“I'm sorry.”
She didn't answer.
Instead, she asked,
“Did you find Marisol?”
I looked at her.
“Where is she?”
Valeria glanced at the stuffed rabbit.
“She told me to give you this if she disappeared.”
Sofia looked confused.
“Give Daddy what?”
Valeria reached into the rabbit's torn seam.
My pulse jumped.
She pulled out a small brass key.
Attached to it was a faded blue ribbon.
I recognized it immediately.
My wife had used blue ribbons to mark every keepsake she wanted the girls to have when they grew older.
“What does this open?”
Valeria shook her head.
“I don't know.”
“Did Marisol tell you?”
“She said you would know.”
I stared at the key.
I didn't.
Hector examined it.
“No markings.”
I turned toward the hallway.
“Then we'll find out.”
A sound came from downstairs.
Chloe's voice.
“Alexander?”
Sofia flinched.
I felt it against my chest.
That was enough.
I stood.
“Stay here.”
Valeria grabbed my sleeve.
“Daddy.”
I looked down.
“Don't leave us alone with her.”
“I won't.”
I walked downstairs.
Chloe stood in the foyer.
She wore the same cream sweater.
Her hair was perfect.
Her expression was concerned.
“Alexander?”
I said nothing.
She approached me.
“You scared me.”
“Where's Marisol?”
Her face changed for half a second.
Then she recovered.
“I'm not sure.”
“You aren't sure?”
“She left.”
“When?”
“About twenty minutes ago.”
“Why?”
Chloe folded her arms.
“We argued.”
“About what?”
She looked toward the stairs.
“Your daughters.”
There was no tremor in her voice.
No guilt.
Only irritation.
“She crossed a line.”
“What line?”
“She grabbed my arm.”
I stared at her.
“Why?”
“She attacked me.”
“Why?”
“She wouldn't let me discipline Sofia.”
I stepped closer.
“Discipline?”
Chloe's eyes hardened.
“She needs boundaries.”
“She is six.”
“She is spoiled.”
I felt something inside me snap.
“Don't call my daughter spoiled.”
Chloe looked genuinely surprised.
Then hurt.
“Alexander, I am trying to help you.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“You're trying to control my house.”
She stared at me.
“You believe Marisol?”
“I haven't said what I believe.”
“Then ask yourself why she suddenly disappeared.”
“I will.”
Chloe walked closer.
“Before you destroy everything we've planned, remember who has been beside you.”
I looked at her.
“I remember.”
She touched my wrist.
I pulled away.
Her expression changed.
Only slightly.
But I saw it.
Fear.
Not fear of losing me.
Fear of what I might discover.
I said quietly,
“Where is my wife's necklace?”
Chloe went still.
“What?”
“The silver necklace.”
“I don't know.”
“It's missing.”
“I've never seen it.”
I watched her face.
She was lying.
I knew because I had just watched the video.
But I didn't tell her.
Instead, I said,
“Go upstairs.”
She frowned.
“Why?”
“Because I'm asking you to.”
For the first time, Chloe obeyed.
She turned.
Then stopped.
“Alexander.”
I waited.
“If you believe those girls over me, you'll regret it.”
I didn't answer.
She walked upstairs.
Hector appeared beside me.
“She's heading toward the master suite.”
“Let her.”
“You're sure?”
“No.”
I looked at the brass key.
“Follow her.”
Hector left.
I went to the office.
The key didn't fit the safe.
Not the desk.
Not the wine cellar.
Not the old storage cabinets.
Then I noticed something.
The blue ribbon.
My wife had tied blue ribbons around things that mattered to her.
I remembered one place she had used them constantly.
A wooden cedar chest in the nursery.
After she died, I couldn't open it.
I had put it in storage.
I found the chest in a locked room beneath the children's wing.
The brass key fit.
Inside were dozens of photographs.
Baby clothes.
A tiny hospital bracelet.
A dried wedding flower.
And a sealed envelope.
My name was written on it in my wife's handwriting.
Alexander.
My hands shook.
I opened it.
There was only one page.
If you are reading this, then something has gone wrong.
Trust the person who stayed when everyone else wanted something from you.
And do not let the woman with the emerald ring near my daughters.
I stopped.
Chloe wore an emerald ring.
Always.
A family gift, she claimed.
My wife's letter continued.
You will think you know why.
You don't.
Look inside the blue coat.
I stared at the words.
Then remembered the old blue coat Sofia had worn when she was three.
It had belonged to her mother.
I found it hanging in the cedar chest.
Inside the lining was something hard.
A small memory card.
Hector entered.
“Boss.”
I looked at him.
“Chloe is searching your office.”
I held up the card.
“Then we know what she's looking for.”
Hector's phone buzzed.
He checked it.
His face changed.
“What?”
“Marisol's car was found.”
“Where?”
“Two miles from here.”
“Is she inside?”
“No.”
I felt a cold pressure in my chest.
“What was left in the car?”
Hector hesitated.
“Her purse.”
“And?”
“A bloodstained coat.”
My hand tightened around the memory card.
“Whose?”
Hector looked at me.
“We don't know.”
Then Sofia screamed from upstairs.
I ran.
The sound came from Chloe's room.
I reached the doorway.
Chloe stood beside the bed.
In her hand was Sofia's stuffed rabbit.
And on the floor between them was the blue coat.
Chloe looked at me.
For the first time, she wasn't pretending to be gentle.
“You shouldn't have come back, Alexander.”
Then she dropped the rabbit.
A tiny silver key fell from its torn seam.
May you like
And Chloe whispered,
“Because now you know too much.”
