Chapter 8: The Hidden Room
The emergency lights flickered red.
Leah grabbed Ava and pulled her behind the shelves.
Daniel moved toward the front.
“Stay down!””
Glass shattered.
A shadow crossed the store entrance.
Marcus reached for his phone.
“No signal.””
Walter whispered, “They cut the power.””
Daniel looked at him.
“How many?””
“I don't know.””
Another crash.
A shelf toppled.
Cans rolled across the floor.
Leah held Ava against her chest.
The little girl's breathing came fast.
“Leah…”
“I've got you.””
“They're looking for me.””
“I know.””
“Will they take me?””
“Not while I'm here.””
Daniel appeared beside them.
“Back door.””
Leah nodded.
They started moving.
Marcus grabbed Daniel's shoulder.
“Wait.””
“What?””
Marcus pointed toward the floor.
A thin line of red light glowed beneath the stockroom door.
Daniel frowned.
“What is that?””
Marcus crouched.
He pulled up a loose floorboard.
Beneath it was a narrow metal panel.
Daniel stared.
“My mother…”
“She built this,” Marcus said.
“Why?””
“To hide records.””
Walter shook his head.
“No. She built it to hide people.””
Everyone looked at him.
Walter swallowed.
“I've been here before.””
Daniel opened the panel.
A narrow staircase descended into darkness.
Leah stared.
“You had a secret room under the store?””
Daniel shook his head.
“I didn't know.””
Marcus stepped down first.
“Now you do.””
They descended.
The air grew colder.
At the bottom was a small concrete room.
A desk.
Two filing cabinets.
Old photographs.
Hospital folders.
And dozens of cassette tapes.
Leah stared.
“How long has this been here?””
Marcus answered.
“Since before Daniel bought the building.””
Daniel walked toward the desk.
A photograph sat beneath a layer of dust.
He picked it up.
It showed his mother.
Beside her stood Renee.
And between them were the twins.
Daniel's fingers tightened.
On the back was a date.
The day after the twins were born.
Leah saw another photograph underneath.
This one showed a teenage Marcus holding baby Eli.
Daniel looked at his brother.
“You had him.””
Marcus nodded.
“For three days.””
“Why?””
“Because Mother couldn't decide what to do.””
Daniel's eyes filled.
“You held my son.””
“Yes.””
“And then gave him away.””
“No.””
Marcus's voice broke.
“She did.””
Silence.
Daniel looked at the filing cabinets.
“Where's the file?””
Marcus pointed.
“Second drawer.””
Daniel opened it.
Hundreds of folders.
He searched.
*Carter.*
Nothing.
Then Leah saw a folder beneath a stack.
*Brooks, Isaiah.*
Daniel grabbed it.
Inside was a photograph.
A current one.
A teenage boy stood outside a brick building.
Sixteen years old.
Tall.
Thin.
Same eyes as Ava.
Same jaw as Daniel.
Leah whispered, “He's grown.””
Ava reached for the photograph.
“My brother.””
Daniel sat down.
He pressed the picture to his chest.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Ava noticed something.
“There.””
She pointed to the corner of the photograph.
A boy had written something on the wall behind him.
Three letters.
*R.C.*
Leah frowned.
“What does that mean?””
Marcus looked at it.
His face changed.
“That's not supposed to be there.””
Daniel stood.
“What?””
Marcus took the photograph.
“Isaiah used that symbol when he wanted someone to know he was being watched.””
Ava whispered, “He told me.””
Everyone looked at her.
“When?””
Ava stared at the picture.
“Before Mom died.””
Daniel crouched.
“What did he tell you?””
“He said if I ever found Dad, I should look for the red door.””
Daniel's eyes widened.
“The red door.””
Leah remembered Ava's first drawing.
The hospital.
The red door.
She turned to Daniel.
“The drawing wasn't random.””
Daniel shook his head.
“No.””
Marcus grabbed the file.
“The school has a red door.””
Daniel looked at him.
“Then that's where we're going.””
Marcus hesitated.
“There's something else.””
“What?””
Marcus pulled a folded document from the file.
It was a transfer record.
Isaiah had been moved out of the residential school two days earlier.
Daniel stared at the date.
“Moved where?””
Marcus pointed to the destination.
A private medical facility.
Leah's stomach dropped.
“Why would they move him to a medical facility?””
Marcus looked at the signature.
“I don't know.””
Daniel read it.
Then stopped.
His face went white.
“What?””
He handed the paper to Leah.
At the bottom was the signature of the person who authorized Isaiah's transfer.
*Dr. Monica Carter.*
Leah stared.
“That's impossible.””
Daniel shook his head.
“My wife has been dead for eight years.””
Marcus looked at him.
“Exactly.””
Ava stepped closer.
“But that's Mom's friend.””
Daniel turned.
“What friend?””
“The lady who visited us.””
Leah's eyes narrowed.
“Which lady?””
Ava pointed toward the photograph.
“She looked like her.””
Daniel's phone suddenly vibrated.
A message appeared.
No number.
Just a photograph.
Daniel opened it.
It showed Isaiah sitting in a dark room.
Alive.
Terrified.
And behind him was a red door.
Under the photograph were six words:
*You brought the girl. Good.*
Daniel's blood ran cold.
May you like
A second message appeared.
*Now come alone.*
