Chapter 2 - THE ROOM UNDER THE HOUSE
Police arrived within minutes.
Daniel was gone.
Vanessa was still missing.
The basement door was locked from the outside.
Adrian gave Detective Morgan the key.
The door opened with a long metallic groan.
The smell hit them first.
Damp concrete.
Old paper.
And disinfectant.
The basement wasn't a storage room.
It was an office.
A desk.
Two computers.
Three security monitors.
And dozens of folders arranged across metal shelves.
Detective Morgan looked around.
“Adrian, don't touch anything.”
Adrian stared at the monitors.
One showed Lily's bedroom.
Another showed the kitchen.
A third showed the courtyard.
There were cameras everywhere.
Hidden cameras.
His daughter had been watched inside her own home.
Then he saw something else.
A calendar.
Every day had been marked.
LILY — 6:00 A.M.
LILY — 12:30 P.M.
LILY — 7:00 P.M.
Next to certain dates were handwritten notes.
CRIES LESS NOW.
DOESN'T TELL FATHER.
INCREASE PRESSURE.
Adrian felt sick.
“What kind of person does this to a child?”
Detective Morgan didn't answer.
She was looking at a folder.
“Adrian.”
He walked over.
The folder contained photographs.
Not only of Lily.
There were photographs of other children.
Different ages.
Different families.
The same estate appeared in the background of several images.
Adrian stared at the first photograph.
A little boy.
Maybe six.
His hands were covered with red marks.
The next showed a girl with bruises around her wrists.
The third showed another child crying beside a pool.
“What is this?”
Morgan's expression hardened.
“We're going to find out.”
Then they heard something.
A faint pounding.
From behind the wall.
Three knocks.
Pause.
Three knocks.
Adrian stepped closer.
“Someone's behind there.”
The officers searched the wall.
They found a concealed door.
It opened into a narrow room.
Inside sat a woman.
She looked exhausted.
Her wrists were bruised.
Adrian recognized her.
“Marissa?”
She had worked as Vanessa's personal assistant.
She disappeared six weeks earlier.
Adrian had assumed she quit.
She began crying when she saw him.
“Adrian…”
He knelt.
“What happened?”
Marissa looked toward the doorway.
“Vanessa.”
“What did she do?”
“She found out I was going to tell you.”
“Tell me what?”
Marissa swallowed.
“Lily isn't the first child.”
Adrian's heart sank.
“What do you mean?”
Marissa reached into her coat.
She pulled out a small envelope.
“I found this in Vanessa's office.”
Adrian opened it.
Inside was a legal document.
His name appeared at the top.
But the signature beneath it wasn't his.
The document transferred guardianship of Lily.
To Vanessa.
Adrian stared at it.
“When was this filed?”
Marissa whispered:
“Three weeks ago.”
He looked at Detective Morgan.
“I never signed this.”
“I know.”
“Then who did?”
Marissa looked at him.
May you like
“Your brother.”
Before Adrian could respond, every light in the basement went out.
