Chapter 5 - THE DAUGHTER HIDDEN ON THE THIRD FLOOR
The mansion's third floor was forbidden after nine.
Bernadette had made that rule sound like superstition.
Now I understood it was grief.
Damien stared at the birth certificate.
"My daughter?"
His voice barely existed.
Bernadette began crying.
He turned toward her.
"You knew?"
She shook her head quickly.
"No."
"Then why the third floor?"
Her eyes filled.
"Because Elena's room is there."
Silence.
Damien stopped breathing.
"You kept it?"
"Your father ordered everything destroyed."
Her voice shook.
"I couldn't."
We went upstairs.
Not at night.
At nine the next morning.
The third-floor hallway smelled like cedar and dust.
At the end stood a locked bedroom.
Bernadette opened it.
Inside, time had stopped.
Books.
A blue scarf draped across a chair.
Medical journals.
A photograph of Damien and Elena laughing beside Lake Michigan.
He picked it up.
His hands trembled.
I stood near the doorway.
Whatever happened between them, it had been real.
Then Toby appeared beside me.
He was supposed to be downstairs eating breakfast.
"Toby!"
He shrugged.
"I got bored."
Damien almost laughed.
Then Toby noticed the photograph.
"Who's she?"
Damien swallowed.
"Someone I loved."
Toby nodded seriously.
"She died?"
"We don't know."
That answer had become the theme of the house.
Then Toby wandered toward a small desk.
He opened a drawer.
Kids touched everything.
Before I could stop him, he pulled out a paper airplane.
Old.
Yellowed.
My heart stopped.
It was folded exactly like the ones Toby made.
Damien went pale.
"Michael."
He unfolded it.
Inside was a note.
D, if you're reading this, Elena made it out.
Damien's hands shook.
The baby is safe.
Your father believes she died.
Keep believing that until I can prove what Helix is doing.
Then:
Do not go to Kesler.
My chest tightened.
Damien had gone to Kesler anyway.
That was the night Michael disappeared.
"Why?" I asked.
He stared.
"Why what?"
"Why did you go?"
His face hardened with memory.
"My father told me Elena was inside."
A trap.
We all understood.
Anthony Rourke had sent Damien toward the building while Michael was already investigating it.
Someone wanted both brothers controlled.
Then Bernadette found a second note behind the desk.
A mailing address in Wisconsin.
No name.
Just initials.
E.V.
Elena Vargas.
Damien immediately wanted to leave.
Then he stopped.
Looked at me.
"Would you come?"
I blinked.
"Why?"
"Because I don't trust myself to handle this alone."
That honesty surprised me.
But Toby needed care.
I shook my head.
"I can't."
He nodded.
No pressure.
"Of course."
Damien went with his attorney instead.
Six hours later, he called.
I answered from St. Bridget's cafeteria.
His voice was shaking.
"We found her."
I stood.
"Elena?"
"Alive."
My eyes filled.
"And the child?"
A pause.
Then:
"Alive."
Damien began crying.
"My daughter is seven."
I covered my mouth.
"What is her name?"
His breathing broke.
"Lily."
Then he whispered:
"Laura, Elena says Lily has the same blood disorder as Toby."
My stomach dropped.
May you like
Before I could speak, he added:
"And she says neither child was born with it."
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