Chapter 6 - Behind the Wallpaper
Emma seized Daniel's arm. “The west wing. Now.”
Rosa grabbed a flashlight from the pantry. Daniel tried the blue-tagged key on the nursery door. This time it turned. Dust rose in the beam as they stepped into a room furnished with sheets over tiny beds and a faded moon-and-stars mural.
“Lily!” Emma called.
Three knocks came from behind the far wall.
Daniel moved a heavy dresser aside. Under peeling wallpaper was an old service hatch, painted shut decades earlier. Rosa dug a metal nail file from her purse and broke the crust around the seam. Inside ran a narrow servants' passage with its own staircase.
A whisper traveled through the dark. “Mommy, please hurry.”
Emma crawled forward. Her cream coat snagged on a nail. She ignored the tear and pushed deeper until a second door blocked the way. It had a keypad and a mechanical lock.
“Lily, listen to me,” Emma said through the wood. “Are you hurt?”
“No. Grandma says I have to be quiet.”
Every winter, Lily asked for a new bedtime story about a girl who found a secret doorway and discovered a kinder world. Emma had always improvised a happy ending. Now she was crawling toward a real hidden door, praying the ending wouldn't depend on a stranger's mercy.
“Is she there?”
“She went to find her red folder.”
Daniel tried the silver key. It slid into the mechanical lock. Emma heard the tumblers shift, but the keypad flashed red. Then Lily said something that turned Emma's blood cold.
“Daddy, Grandma said you promised I'd go with her.”
Daniel leaned against the door. “I didn't promise that, sweetheart.”
“You told her Mommy would sign.”
Emma stared at him. A thousand excuses waited on his lips. None came out.
Rosa's flashlight swept the floor. A torn envelope lay beside the door, shoved under from the other side. It was addressed to Emma in Natalie Whitmore's handwriting. Inside was a photograph of Victoria beside a hospital bassinet, with a younger Natalie standing far away, her expression stricken.
On the back: IF SOMETHING HAPPENS TO ME, FIND THE SECOND SISTER.
A beep sounded from the keypad. The display changed from red to green.
May you like
Somebody on the other side was unlocking the door.
CHRISTMAS EVE BETRAYAL • THE MISSING DAUGHTER
