Chapter 5 - The Empty Bedroom
Ethan reached the townhouse before the police.
The front door was unlocked.
He ran through the foyer.
“Lena!”
No answer.
The house felt wrong.
Too quiet.
A vase lay broken near the bottom of the stairs. One of Lena’s shoes was beside it.
Ethan heard Detective Brooks behind him.
“Don’t go upstairs alone.”
He ignored her.
Margaret’s bedroom door stood open.
Drawers had been dumped onto the floor.
A jewelry box was empty.
The mattress had been pulled aside.
Lena was not there.
Neither was Margaret.
Brooks found a smear of blood near the upstairs service hall.
“Small amount,” she said. “Could be from a cut.”
Ethan punched the wall.
“This is because I didn’t listen.”
Brooks faced him.
“This is because someone chose to commit crimes. Blaming yourself will not help us find them.”
On Margaret’s vanity sat a cracked phone.
Not the second phone Lena had mentioned.
This one had been smashed.
But the SIM card was missing.
A house camera showed Margaret leaving through the rear door nine minutes before Ethan arrived.
Alone.
No Lena.
A second camera covering the service entrance had been unplugged.
Back at the hospital, Ava watched the police search from her tablet.
Her pulse would not settle.
“Where would Lena go?” she asked.
Ethan shook his head.
“She doesn’t have family in the city.”
“She has a sister in Queens.”
“Police are checking.”
At 11:40 p.m., a nurse entered Ava’s room holding a small padded envelope.
“This was left at the desk for you.”
No return address.
Inside was a memory card.
And one sentence written in blue ink.
IF I DISAPPEAR, WATCH 11:52 P.M.
Ava’s hands went cold.
“Call Ethan.”
The nurse did.
Ten minutes later, Ava inserted the memory card into her tablet.
The video came from a small camera hidden somewhere high in her bedroom.
Timestamp: 11:52 p.m., three nights earlier.
Ava was asleep.
Margaret entered.
She carried a glass of water and a pill.
She placed the pill beneath Ava’s tongue, then held her jaw closed until she swallowed.
Ava stirred but did not wake.
Margaret looked toward the door.
Conrad Pike stepped into frame.
Perfect suit.
Silver hair.
The same polite face Ava had trusted for years.
He whispered, “How much longer?”
Margaret answered, “Until she signs, or until we don’t need her signature.”
Pike glanced at the sleeping Ava.
“And Ethan?”
“My son believes what I tell him.”
The video ended.
Ethan said nothing on the phone for a long time.
Then Ava heard a sound behind him.
A door opening.
Brooks shouted, “Ethan, get back!”
May you like
A muffled struggle followed.
The call dropped.
