Chapter 4 - THE ROOM BEHIND THE KITCHEN
Bellweather House reopened at dawn under Caldero guards.
The police had been told there was an attempted robbery.
Nobody believed it.
Nobody challenged Vincent’s version.
Nora entered through the kitchen.
The place looked normal.
That made it worse.
A broken wineglass remained beneath table seven.
A napkin lay folded beside a half-eaten steak.
Twenty-four hours ago, Nora had worried about tips.
Now she did not know who her mother was.
Paul had disappeared.
Vincent had men searching every address tied to him.
Evelyn walked beside Nora.
Marcus followed several steps behind.
Nobody trusted him completely.
Nobody could afford to lose what he knew.
Nora led them to Paul’s office.
Vincent broke the lock.
Nothing.
Invoices.
Payroll records.
Vendor contracts.
Then Evelyn pointed toward the pantry wall.
She signed.
Different.
Nora frowned.
“You’ve been here before?”
Evelyn nodded.
Twenty years ago.
She touched the wall.
There used to be a door.
Marcus found the seam beneath the paint.
Within minutes, they ripped away shelving and exposed a narrow entrance.
Behind it was a room.
No windows.
One bed.
A sink.
Scratches covered the wall.
Nora stepped inside.
The air felt dead.
Vincent found an old wooden box beneath the bed.
Inside were children’s drawings.
Most showed houses.
One showed three girls holding hands.
Names had been written above them.
LILY.
ANNA.
NORA.
Nora stopped.
“My name.”
Vincent picked up the drawing.
The paper was at least twenty years old.
“You would’ve been four.”
Nora shook her head.
“I was never here.”
Evelyn stared at the drawing.
Then signed.
Nora translated with difficulty.
“She says she knew a child named Anna.”
Marcus went pale.
“Don’t.”
Vincent looked at him.
“Who was Anna?”
Marcus said nothing.
Evelyn answered.
Rebecca’s daughter.
Nora gripped the bedframe.
“Rebecca’s biological daughter was Anna?”
Evelyn nodded.
“And she was here?”
Another nod.
Nora looked at the three figures.
Lily.
Anna.
Nora.
Something was wrong.
If Anna was Rebecca’s daughter, Lily was Evelyn’s stolen child.
Then who was Nora?
Footsteps sounded behind them.
Everyone spun.
Paul stood in the hidden doorway.
He looked exhausted.
Unarmed.
Vincent raised his gun.
“Don’t move.”
Paul laughed bitterly.
“You think I’m the enemy?”
“You helped someone watch Nora.”
“I kept them watching the wrong Nora.”
Silence.
Nora stared.
“What?”
Paul stepped inside slowly.
“My father ran Bellweather when it was a boarding house. Raymond paid him to hide children.”
Marcus’s face hardened.
“You knew?”
“I found the records after Dad died.”
Paul looked at Nora.
“Three girls passed through this room.”
“Who were they?”
“Lily stayed one night before Marcus moved her to Rebecca.”
Marcus nodded.
“Anna stayed six months.”
Nora pointed at the drawing.
“And me?”
Paul swallowed.
“You stayed four years.”
The floor seemed to drop beneath her.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“My mother raised me.”
“Rebecca took you when you were four.”
Nora stared.
“From here?”
Paul nodded.
“Why?”
“Because she came back looking for Anna.”
Nora could barely breathe.
“She found you instead.”
Vincent spoke softly.
“So Rebecca wasn’t Nora’s mother.”
Paul looked at him.
“No.”
Evelyn stepped toward Nora.
Her face suddenly looked terrified.
She signed one sentence.
Nora froze.
“What?” Vincent asked.
Nora could not translate it.
Evelyn repeated the sign.
Nora backed away.
“No.”
Vincent’s voice sharpened.
“What did she say?”
Nora’s lips trembled.
“She says she knows who my mother is.”
Paul closed his eyes.
Marcus whispered, “Evelyn…”
Vincent looked at his mother.
“Who?”
Evelyn touched her own chest.
Nora stopped breathing.
Then Evelyn signed:
You are mine too.
Vincent stared at Nora.
Nora stared at Evelyn.
“That’s impossible.”
Paul shook his head.
“No.”
Everyone turned toward him.
He looked at Nora.
“It isn’t.”
Vincent raised the gun.
“You have five seconds.”
Paul swallowed.
“Lily wasn’t Evelyn’s first stolen daughter.”
May you like
Nora felt her knees weaken.
“You were.”
