Chapter 8 - THE HOUSE WENT DARK
Sophie screamed.
I dropped to my knees and pulled her against me.
“Stay with me.”
Phones lit up around the room.
Tiny white squares floated in the darkness.
“Everybody stop moving,” Luke said.
No panic.
No shouting.
Just command.
Noah backed down the stairs.
Ethan used his phone flashlight to reach the electrical panel.
“Power’s still on outside.”
Through the windows, the neighbors’ houses glowed normally.
Our power hadn’t failed.
Someone had killed it.
From inside.
Then we heard footsteps upstairs.
Slow.
Three steps.
Pause.
Two more.
Derek shouted, “Who’s there?”
Daniel hissed, “Do not announce where we are.”
The footsteps stopped.
Sophie buried her face against my neck.
I could feel her heartbeat hammering.
A soft click came from the back of the house.
The kitchen door.
Noah moved first.
By the time we reached the kitchen, the door was swinging open.
Cold air rushed inside.
Nobody was there.
Luke looked outside.
“Don’t follow.”
Noah nodded.
Ethan found the breaker.
The lights came back.
The kitchen looked exactly the same.
Except for one thing.
Vanessa’s purse was gone.
She stared at the empty stool where she had left it.
“No.”
She ran toward the island.
“My phone was inside.”
“Anything else?” Daniel asked.
Vanessa searched the floor.
“Keys. Wallet. Everything.”
Sophie whispered, “The scissors.”
Everyone looked at her.
Vanessa covered her mouth.
The scissors were gone too.
Derek stood completely still.
Luke watched him.
“You know who was here.”
“No.”
“You reacted before the lights went out.”
“I didn’t.”
“Yes, you did.”
Derek shook his head.
“I thought—”
He stopped.
Luke stepped closer.
“You thought what?”
Derek stared at me.
For one second, he looked almost ashamed.
“I thought it might be Elena.”
Vanessa laughed.
“Elena was in Arizona yesterday.”
“How do you know?”
“She called me.”
The room froze again.
Derek looked at her.
“What?”
Vanessa closed her eyes.
“She called me yesterday.”
“You never told me.”
“Because she told me not to.”
Derek grabbed the back of a chair.
“What did she say?”
Vanessa’s voice dropped.
“She knew about me.”
Derek blinked.
“She knew about Claire too.”
My stomach twisted.
“She told me Derek was lying to all of us.”
“Why would she contact you?”
“She wanted evidence.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“Evidence of what?”
Vanessa looked at me.
“Money.”
Of course.
Always money.
“She said Derek had been moving funds through several companies and using women’s names to hide ownership.”
Derek slammed his fist on the counter.
“She is insane.”
Vanessa flinched.
“She said if I helped her, she’d make sure I didn’t go down with him.”
Daniel glanced at Marcus.
“And did you help?”
Vanessa swallowed.
“I sent her invoices.”
“What invoices?”
“Silver Vale.”
Derek stared at her in disbelief.
“You gave her company records?”
“She already had most of them!”
“That’s impossible.”
“No, Derek. What’s impossible is how stupid you thought we all were.”
Ethan suddenly raised one hand.
“Quiet.”
He was staring at his laptop.
“What?” I asked.
“The storage system just reconnected.”
“So?”
“Observer is online.”
A chill moved through the room.
The unknown administrator wasn’t just an old account.
Someone was connected right now.
Ethan began typing.
“They’re deleting files.”
“Stop them.”
“I’m trying.”
Folders vanished from the screen.
Office.
Hallway.
Master bedroom.
“Can you save anything?”
“I’ve got partial backups.”
A message box appeared.
No username.
No sender.
Just one sentence.
CLAIRE, ASK DEREK WHAT HAPPENED ON APRIL 17.
Nobody breathed.
I looked at my husband.
His face had gone white.
“Derek?”
He shook his head.
“Don’t.”
“What happened on April seventeenth?”
“Claire, please.”
It was the first time all night he had said please.
I stared at him.
“What happened?”
Derek sat down slowly.
May you like
Then he said six words.
“That was the night your father died.”
