Chapter 9 - The Phone Behind the Moon

The ringing continued behind the locked nursery door.

Claire pulled at the handle.

“Move,” Ethan said.

She turned. “Ethan, you don’t know what’s on that phone.”

“That is exactly why I’m opening the door.”

Daniel reached them, breathing hard. He used his master key.

The door opened.

The room looked untouched: pale walls, white crib, stuffed animals, a painted moon over the reading nook.

The ringing stopped.

Ethan crossed to the mural and pressed along the paneling.

Nothing.

Mara had said behind the wallpaper panel with the painted moon.

He slid his fingers along the molding and felt a tiny gap.

Claire said, “This is insane.”

Ethan pulled.

A narrow panel opened.

Inside sat an old black smartphone wrapped in a plastic bag.

Daniel whispered, “Don’t touch it.”

Ethan already had.

The screen lit up.

One missed call.

UNKNOWN.

Battery: 61%.

“Eleven months,” Ethan said. “How does it still have power?”

Daniel examined the compartment. “There’s a charging cable in the wall.”

Someone had built a hidden power feed.

Claire backed toward the door.

Daniel noticed. “Stay where you are.”

Ethan unlocked the phone.

No passcode.

There were only four items on the home screen: Photos, Voice Memos, Notes, and a folder called IF I’M GONE.

Ethan’s throat tightened.

He opened the folder.

One video file.

Rachel appeared on screen.

Alive.

She sat in the nursery chair wearing a gray sweater, her hair tied back, eyes red from crying.

Ethan stopped breathing.

“Ethan,” she began, “if you’re watching this, I was right to be afraid.”

Claire moved toward the phone.

Daniel blocked her.

Rachel continued.

“Do not trust the accident report. Do not trust anyone who tells you I was unstable. And whatever happens, do not sign over medical or guardianship authority for Sophie.”

Ethan’s eyes filled.

Then Rachel said something that made Claire whisper, “Turn it off.”

“I found proof that someone inside Cole Meridian has been stealing from the foundation. But the money is not the worst part.”

Rachel looked directly into the camera.

“The person behind it has access to our house.”

The video glitched.

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Then Rachel spoke one final sentence before the screen froze.

“Ethan, Claire Bennett is not who she says she is.”