Chapter 14 - The Lake House
Daniel did not go alone.
He pretended he would.
That distinction saved his life.
Detective Ortiz followed with an unmarked team ten minutes behind. Marcus drove separately. Sarah stayed with Emily and the twins at a secure police residence.
At least, that was the plan.
Then Sarah found a folded piece of paper inside Noah’s diaper bag.
It had been there since the hotel.
One sentence was written in Vanessa’s handwriting.
THE ORIGINAL FILE IS NOT AT THE LAKE HOUSE. CHECK THE BLUE ROOM.
Sarah called Daniel.
No answer.
She called Marcus.
Nothing.
Emily saw her face. “What?”
Sarah showed her the note.
Emily’s eyes widened.
“The blue room.”
“You know it?”
“In this house. Daniel’s father had a blue study before the remodel.”
The Mercer mansion had been evacuated after the fire, but the main structure was safe.
Emily remembered where the old study had been: directly below the nursery.
Sarah contacted Ortiz, but the detective was already en route to the lake house and had poor reception.
A local officer escorted Sarah and Emily back to the mansion.
They entered through the kitchen.
Smoke still stained the upstairs ceiling.
The old blue study was now a formal sitting room.
Emily ran her hand along the wall.
“My father-in-law never trusted digital files.”
She pressed a carved wooden panel beside the fireplace.
Nothing happened.
Then Noah, standing beside Sarah, toddled toward the baseboard.
He tapped three times.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
The same pattern Sarah had heard through the nursery vent.
A section of paneling clicked open.
Inside was a narrow safe.
Emily stared.
“How did he know?”
Sarah looked at Noah.
The answer was simple.
Emily had used the passage. She must have opened the panel while visiting them at night. Noah had watched.
Inside the safe was a blue leather folder.
Henry Mercer’s continuity file.
Sarah opened it.
The first pages were corporate instructions.
Then came photographs.
Daniel being followed.
Emily entering a clinic.
The twins at the park.
Vanessa meeting Charles years before she claimed to have met Daniel.
At the bottom was a sealed envelope labeled:
FOR DANIEL - WHEN CHARLES BETRAYS YOU.
May you like
Sarah stared at the handwriting.
Henry had expected all of this.
