Chapter 6 - THE RED DOOR BENEATH THE MANSION
Dominic Vale had lived in his lakeside mansion for eleven years.
He knew every staircase.
Every private office.
Every guarded entrance.
But he had never heard of a red door beneath the house.
The original architectural plans told a different story.
An old service corridor ran beneath the east wing.
It had been built before Dominic purchased the property.
According to the renovation records, the entrance was sealed seven years earlier.
Two years before Elena died.
And the man who approved the renovation was Silas Crane.
I stood beside Dominic while his attorney studied the plans.
"Why would Silas approve construction beneath your house?" I asked.
Dominic's jaw tightened.
"He handled property acquisitions."
"Did you authorize this?"
"No."
The attorney looked up.
"The contractor's records show the work was billed through Northbridge Holdings."
The same company receiving Audrey's trust money.
My stomach tightened.
Everything kept leading back to Silas.
After obtaining the necessary authorization, investigators examined the old service corridor.
They discovered a concealed entrance behind storage shelves.
At the bottom of a narrow staircase stood a steel door.
Its paint had been covered with gray enamel.
But beneath the handle, a strip of dark red remained visible.
Dominic stared at the photographs.
"Audrey was right."
I nodded.
"She's been trying to tell you."
He closed his eyes.
"I know."
Inside the room, investigators found an old desk, filing cabinets, and evidence that the space had once been used to store records.
Several drawers were empty.
Someone had removed most of the documents.
But beneath the desk, investigators discovered a photograph.
Elena stood beside Thomas Mercer.
My father.
Both looked frightened.
On the back, Dad had written:
THE SECOND LEDGER IS SAFE.
My heart pounded.
"A second ledger?"
Dominic looked toward me.
"Thomas must have made another copy."
I stared at the photograph.
Then remembered something my father told me the night before he died.
He'd been lying in a hospital bed, struggling to breathe.
His voice was barely audible.
"Claire, when the world tells you to stay silent, remember that silence is what dangerous people buy."
At the time, I thought he was simply giving me advice.
Now those words sounded like a warning.
I looked toward Dominic.
"There's something else."
He waited.
"Before Dad died, he gave me a small wooden box."
"What's inside?"
"I never opened it."
His expression changed.
"Why?"
"Because he told me opening it would bring the Mercers back into my life."
For five years, I'd kept the box hidden beneath my bed.
I suddenly understood why.
Then Dominic received a call from his attorney.
His expression hardened.
"What happened?"
He listened.
Then looked toward me.
"Silas's office has been searched."
My heart raced.
"Did they find the missing records?"
"Not yet."
A pause.
"But they found something else."
"What?"
Dominic's voice dropped.
"A recent photograph of you."
I stopped breathing.
Then he revealed the date.
It had been taken six months earlier.
May you like
Long before I approached Audrey at the restaurant.
Silas Crane had been watching me for half a year.
