Chapter 3 - THE THING INSIDE THE WALL
Nathan was waiting in the foyer when we came downstairs.
Beside him stood a middle-aged environmental specialist named Dr. Laura Bennett.
She carried a black equipment case and wore no expression of alarm.
That somehow made me more nervous.
“What did you find?” Nathan asked.
“Nothing yet,” she replied. “I need controlled samples.”
She looked at me.
“Who noticed the odor?”
“I did.”
“And the altered screws?”
“I did those too.”
Laura nodded.
“Good. Then don't touch anything else.”
Marcus led her upstairs.
Nathan followed.
I stayed with the boys.
For ten minutes, the mansion was silent.
Then Jonah whispered, “Is Daddy mad?”
“No.”
“Scared?”
I looked at him.
“A little.”
Jacob frowned.
“Daddy doesn't get scared.”
“He does when he loves someone.”
Jacob seemed to think about that.
Then he took off his silver bracelet.
“Emily?”
“Yes?”
“Can you hold this?”
I accepted it.
The bracelet was scratched from years of use.
Inside the metal was a tiny inscription.
Always come home.
I looked at him.
“Your mom gave you this?”
He nodded.
“She made Daddy promise.”
“Promise what?”
“That if anything happened, he'd bring us home.”
My heart tightened.
“Home from where?”
Jacob didn't answer.
Jonah did.
“From this house.”
Before I could ask anything else, Nathan came downstairs.
His face was pale.
“Where did you get that?”
He was staring at the bracelet.
“Jacob gave it to me.”
Nathan walked over.
“Give it to me.”
Jacob immediately shook his head.
“Mommy said Emily could hold it.”
Nathan stopped.
“Mommy said that?”
Jacob nodded.
Nathan looked away.
Something painful crossed his face.
Laura came down behind him.
“We found the source.”
Nathan turned.
“What is it?”
“An unauthorized device installed inside the return duct.”
Silence.
“What kind of device?”
“I don't know yet.”
Nathan's jaw tightened.
“Can you remove it?”
“Not safely until I document everything.”
“Is it poisoning them?”
Laura shook her head.
“I'm not ready to say that.”
Nathan slammed his hand against the table.
“My children are sick.”
“I understand.”
“Then tell me what is happening.”
Laura remained calm.
“I found evidence of chemical contamination, but I need laboratory confirmation.”
My pulse increased.
“What chemical?”
She looked at Nathan.
“Several possibilities.”
“Which ones?”
“Solvents. Plasticizers. Possibly an organophosphate compound.”
Nathan stared at her.
“Those can make children sick?”
“Yes.”
“How sick?”
Laura didn't answer immediately.
“Fatigue. weakness. headaches. concentration problems. nausea. respiratory irritation. Depending on the substance and exposure level, neurological symptoms are possible.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
Three million dollars.
Specialists.
Blood tests.
Scans.
And the answer might have been circulating through the house.
Then Laura added something that changed everything.
“There is something else.”
Nathan opened his eyes.
“The device wasn't simply placed in the duct.”
“What does that mean?”
“It appears to have been connected to the ventilation controls.”
“By whom?”
“I don't know.”
Marcus stepped forward.
“Can you determine when it was installed?”
“Possibly.”
Nathan looked at me.
“Emily, take the boys to the library.”
The twins immediately protested.
“No,” Jacob said.
Nathan softened.
“Please.”
The boys followed me.
As we walked away, I heard Laura say, “Nathan, whoever installed this knew the layout of the house.”
I stopped.
Nathan said nothing.
Then Laura continued.
“They knew which bedrooms the children occupied.”
That sentence stayed with me.
Someone hadn't contaminated a random part of the house.
Someone had targeted the twins.
In the library, Jonah sat beside me.
“Is Mommy in heaven?”
The question came so quietly I almost didn't hear it.
“Yes.”
“Then she can see us?”
“I think so.”
He looked toward the window.
“Then she knows.”
“Knows what?”
“That Daddy is finally listening.”
I didn't know what to say.
An hour later, Laura finished the initial examination.
Nathan called us back.
She placed a sealed evidence bag on the table.
Inside was a small black plastic module.
“It was connected to the ductwork.”
Nathan stared at it.
“What does it do?”
“Not sure.”
Laura pointed to a narrow chamber.
“But it appears designed to disperse material into the airflow.”
Nathan's face hardened.
“Could someone have put medicine in it?”
“Possibly.”
“Poison?”
“Possibly.”
Marcus asked, “Can you trace where it came from?”
“There's a manufacturer mark.”
She turned the device over.
Nathan read it.
His expression changed.
“What?”
He pointed.
“That company supplied equipment to one of my hotels.”
Marcus looked at him.
“Which one?”
“Harbor Crown.”
Nobody spoke.
Harbor Crown had been Nathan's first major hotel.
His late wife, Claire, had managed it.
Nathan took out his phone.
“Call accounting.”
Marcus did.
After a few minutes, he covered the receiver.
“There was a renovation contract eighteen months ago.”
“Who handled it?”
Marcus looked uncomfortable.
“Northstar Environmental.”
The same company.
Nathan turned toward Laura.
“Can you tell when this device was installed?”
“Not exactly.”
“But?”
She pointed to the dust around the mounting bracket.
“Based on the residue, I'd estimate it was installed around seven to nine months ago.”
Nathan went rigid.
“Seven to nine months.”
“Yes.”
“That's when the boys got sick.”
Laura nodded.
The room became silent.
Then Jacob spoke from behind me.
“I remember.”
Everyone turned.
Jacob stood in the doorway.
“Remember what?”
He pointed at the black device.
“That's what Mommy found.”
Nathan's face drained of color.
“What did she find?”
Jacob's eyes filled with tears.
“She took a picture.”
“Where?”
Jacob looked at his brother.
Jonah whispered, “The red coat.”
Nathan frowned.
“What red coat?”
Their mother's coat.
Claire's old winter coat hung in a closet upstairs.
Jacob ran toward the staircase.
Nathan followed.
The coat was still there.
Red wool.
Gold buttons.
Claire's perfume faintly lingering after all these months.
Jacob reached into the pocket.
His fingers searched inside.
Then he pulled out a folded photograph.
Nathan took it.
The picture showed the ventilation grate.
But that wasn't what made his hands shake.
On the back, Claire had written four words.
ASK WHO HAS THE KEYS.
Nathan stared at the sentence.
Then Marcus spoke.
“Sir.”
Nathan looked up.
Marcus had gone white.
“What?”
“The access logs.”
“What about them?”
Marcus slowly lifted his tablet.
“Only four people had master access to this house during the period the device was installed.”
Nathan stared.
“Me. Claire. You…”
Marcus hesitated.
“And Dr. Reeves.”
Nobody moved.
Then Nathan looked at the photograph again.
The four words suddenly carried a different meaning.
Claire hadn't been warning him about an outsider.
May you like
She had been warning him about someone already inside his circle.
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