Chapter 7 - THE RED BOX
Nobody moved.
Marcus stared at the metal shelf.
Daniel tightened his grip on the gun.
Then headlights flashed through the warehouse windows.
Marcus cursed.
“More company.”
The front doors burst open.
Vincent entered with four men.
A bandage covered his left shoulder.
His shirt was stained with blood.
Daniel stared at him.
Vincent stared back.
Eighteen years of hatred filled the space between them.
“You're alive,” Vincent said.
Daniel answered quietly.
“Disappointed?”
Vincent crossed the warehouse and punched him.
Daniel hit the floor.
Renley nearly shouted.
Daniel got up.
Vincent punched him again.
“You let me bury an empty coffin!”
“You would've put me in a real one if I'd stayed.”
Vincent grabbed his brother's jacket.
“Walter told me you were dead.”
“Walter kept you alive by lying.”
Vincent raised his fist again.
Renley pushed the shelf aside.
“STOP!”
Everyone turned.
Vincent released Daniel immediately.
“Renley.”
“Where's my mom?”
Vincent's face answered before his mouth did.
“We don't know.”
Renley's heart dropped.
Marcus spoke.
“She disappeared during the blackout.”
“Was she taken?”
“We don't know.”
Renley wanted to scream.
Instead, she looked at Daniel.
“The red box.”
Every adult in the warehouse went silent.
Daniel slowly turned.
“What did you say?”
Renley knew immediately that she had made a mistake.
Marcus stepped forward.
Vincent blocked him.
Daniel spoke gently.
“Renley. What red box?”
She backed away.
“No.”
“Walter told you?”
“No.”
“Renley.”
“He told me not to trust the first person who cried.”
Vincent glanced toward Eleanor's photograph on the table.
Daniel noticed.
“Eleanor cried when she saw you?”
Renley said nothing.
Daniel's expression changed.
“Where is Eleanor now?”
Vincent frowned.
“At the mansion.”
Daniel went pale.
“Call them.”
Vincent grabbed a phone.
No answer.
He called again.
Nothing.
Then Marcus's phone rang.
He answered.
A terrified voice shouted through the speaker.
“The house is empty.”
Vincent froze.
“What?”
“Everyone's gone.”
“Eleanor?”
“Gone.”
“The security drives?”
“Gone.”
Daniel looked at Vincent.
“There.”
Vincent slowly lowered the phone.
“What?”
“That's your traitor.”
Vincent shook his head.
“No.”
“You always defended her.”
“She raised us.”
“She controlled us.”
“She saved my life.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“She decided whose lives mattered.”
Renley's mind raced.
Eleanor had recognized her instantly.
Eleanor knew Claire.
Eleanor knew about the symbol.
Eleanor knew Walter had protected Renley.
And Eleanor had cried first.
Walter's warning.
Don't believe the first person who cries.
Renley whispered:
“It was her.”
Nobody answered.
A phone rang.
Not Vincent's.
Not Marcus's.
Not Daniel's.
Renley's.
She pulled it from her jacket.
Unknown number.
Everyone watched.
Renley answered.
“Hello?”
Eleanor's voice came through.
“Sweetheart.”
Renley felt ice crawl down her spine.
“Where is my mom?”
“Safe.”
“Let me talk to her.”
“I can't.”
“Then you're lying.”
A pause.
“You really are Walter's girl.”
Renley's hands shook with anger.
“What do you want?”
“The red box.”
“I don't know where it is.”
“You do.”
“I was six!”
“Memory is strange, Renley. Sometimes it waits for fear.”
Vincent reached for the phone.
Renley stepped away.
Eleanor continued.
“Walter used a story.”
Renley froze.
“What story?”
“The one he told you on the playground.”
A memory flashed.
Pigeons.
Walter kneeling.
A red balloon tied to a bench.
His voice.
Three bells.
A sleeping lion.
Water underneath.
Renley gasped.
Eleanor heard it.
“There it is.”
Renley said nothing.
“Tell me where.”
“No.”
Eleanor's voice changed.
Cold now.
No grandmotherly warmth.
“If you don't, your mother will die believing you could have saved her.”
Vincent ripped the phone from Renley's hand.
“If you touch Claire—”
Eleanor laughed.
“Vincent. You still think this is about Claire?”
The line went silent for one second.
Then Eleanor whispered:
“This has always been about Renley.”
The call ended.
Renley's memory continued opening like a locked door.
Three bells.
Sleeping lion.
Water underneath.
She knew the place.
Everyone around her wanted the answer.
So she did the one thing none of them expected.
May you like
She lied.
“I don't remember.”
