Chapter 7: The Woman Behind the Door
“Don't open it,” David repeated.
Marcus stared at the white ribbon beneath the warehouse door.
The same kind of ribbon had appeared around the wrist of the girl in the SUV. The same kind his first wife had kept in a small velvet box beside her wedding ring.
Outside, the woman knocked again.
“Marcus, please. We need to talk.””
Her voice sounded exactly like Victoria's.
The impatient sweetness. The slight rasp when she was angry. Even the little breath she took before saying his name.
Marcus stepped toward the door.
David seized his arm.
“Think! Victoria is supposed to be at your house with the police. If she's standing outside this warehouse, then either she escaped or someone wants you to believe she did.””
“That's why I'm going to find out.””
“And if she has a weapon?””
Marcus pulled free.
“Then she should have thought about that before threatening my children.””
He motioned toward the side entrance, where two police officers had just appeared. One officer moved behind a stack of wooden crates while the other approached the door with his hand near his holster.
Marcus stood several feet back.
“Who's there?”” he called.
“It's Victoria.””
“Tell me something only my wife would know.””
A pause followed.
Then the woman answered, “You proposed to me in the library because Ethan was sleeping upstairs, and you didn't want him to think you were replacing his mother.””
Marcus felt a cold pressure in his chest.
The memory was real.
He had knelt beside the library fireplace with a ring in his hand. Victoria had cried, kissed him, and promised that she would never ask him to stop loving Claire.
It was one of the reasons he had married her.
“Open the door,” she said.
“Please. Richard is coming.””
David swore under his breath.
Marcus turned toward him.
“Richard Voss?””
David nodded.
“He must have found out about the letter.””
A sudden crash came from the opposite side of the warehouse.
The officers spun around.
Someone had thrown a metal object through a side window.
“Police!”” one of them shouted.
“Stay where you are!””
Footsteps pounded across the gravel outside.
The woman at the door screamed.
“Marcus, don't let them take me!””
The door rattled violently.
Then a second voice came from outside, deeper and unmistakably male.
“Move away from the entrance!””
A gunshot split the air.
Marcus ducked behind the table.
The police returned fire from the side entrance, and the warehouse filled with the sharp, deafening echoes of gunfire.
David dragged Marcus behind a concrete support column.
“Stay down!””
“Who fired?””
“I don't know!””
The gunfire stopped as suddenly as it had begun.
An officer shouted for everyone to remain still.
Marcus waited, breathing hard, until he heard footsteps approaching.
“Mr. Hale, are you injured?””
“No. What happened?””
“We have one suspect in custody. The other fled toward the road.””
“And the woman?””
The officer hesitated.
“She ran when the shooting started.””
Marcus rose.
“Which way?””
“Toward the wooded lot.””
Marcus started for the door, but the officer blocked him.
“You cannot go after her. Our team is searching the area.””
“Then tell me who she was.””
“We're checking identification.””
David approached the doorway, looking shaken.
“She was wearing Victoria's coat,” he said.
Marcus turned.
“You're sure?””
“I saw it when she stood beneath the light.””
The officer returned with a small evidence bag containing a discarded identification card.
He showed it to Marcus.
The name read *Victoria Hale*.
But the photograph was different.
The woman in the picture had Victoria's face, yet her hair was shorter, her jaw slightly wider, and a thin scar crossed her left eyebrow.
Marcus stared.
“Who is this?””
“We're still verifying her identity.””
David's voice dropped.
“Her name is Vanessa Voss.””
Marcus looked at him.
“Another daughter?””
“Victoria's older sister.””
Marcus had never heard the name.
David continued, “Richard kept Vanessa out of public view. She was the one who handled his private arrangements after he got out of prison. Victoria married you, but Vanessa made sure everything stayed on schedule.””
“Everything?””
“The money. The records. Sophie.””
Marcus grabbed David's jacket.
“You knew there were two women involved?””
“I knew Victoria had a sister. I didn't know she was working with Richard until tonight.””
Marcus released him.
“Why should I believe anything you say?””
David had no answer.
A police officer approached with a phone recovered from the detained suspect.
“We found this in his vehicle. There's a message on the screen that may be relevant.””
Marcus read it.
*VANESSA: If Marcus has the letter, get it before he reaches the girl. Richard wants the original.*
Marcus looked up.
“Where is the girl?””
The officer shook his head.
“We're still trying to locate the SUV.””
“Then keep looking.””
He took out his own phone and called Raymond.
The call connected immediately.
“Sir, Ethan is safe at Ms. Price's office.””
“Put him on.””
A moment later, Ethan's voice came through.
“Dad?””
“I'm here, son. Are you all right?””
“Yes. But the police just told me they found Uncle David.””
“I'm with him now.””
Ethan was quiet for a moment.
“Did you find Sophie?””
“Not yet.””
“Dad, I remembered something.””
Marcus closed his eyes briefly.
“Tell me.””
“Mom used to sing a song when she put me to bed. She said she made it up for both of us.””
“Both of you?””
“Sophie and me. The last line was always, ‘Where one heart sleeps, the other will wake.’”
Marcus felt a sharp ache behind his ribs.
He remembered Claire humming that tune in the kitchen. He had assumed it was an old nursery song.
Ethan continued.
“She told me that if Sophie ever got lost, I should sing it to her. She'd know it was me.””
Marcus glanced toward David.
His brother was watching him with a strange expression.
“Ethan, do you remember anything else?””
“The night before Mom died, she gave me a key. She said it would help me find Sophie someday.””
Marcus straightened.
“What key?””
“I still have it. It's in the wooden box under my bed.””
“Don't touch it. Ask Raymond to secure it and bring it to the police.””
“Okay.””
Marcus took a breath.
“Ethan, I need you to stay with Raymond. Don't go anywhere with anyone unless you hear my voice yourself.””
“I promise.””
The call ended.
David looked toward the warehouse ceiling.
“Claire planned for this.””
“What do you mean?””
“She knew Richard would keep searching for Sophie. She told me once that she'd left something for the twins, something that would prove who was behind everything.””
“Where?””
“I never found out.””
Marcus stared at him.
“You expect me to believe you were protecting my children when you couldn't even tell me they existed?””
David's eyes filled with tears.
“No. I expect you to hate me. But if you want to find Sophie, you need to know what happened the night Claire died.””
Before Marcus could answer, the officer's radio crackled.
A patrol unit had found the abandoned SUV near the river.
The vehicle was empty.
On the rear seat lay a child's white ribbon.
And beneath it was a photograph of Claire holding two newborn babies.
Someone had written across the back in black ink:
*SHE NEVER DIED THE WAY YOU THINK SHE DID.*
Marcus stared at the message.
For four years, he had believed that Claire's death was a tragedy no one could have prevented.
Now he wondered whether it had been something else entirely.
His phone rang.
An unknown number.
He answered.
A little girl's voice whispered, “Daddy?””
Marcus stopped breathing.
“Who's this?””
“It's Sophie.””
His knees nearly gave way.
“Where are you, sweetheart?””
“I don't know. They took my phone.””
“Are you hurt?””
“No. But I heard them talking.””
“Who?””
“Grandpa Richard and Aunt Vanessa.””
Marcus gripped the phone so tightly his fingers hurt.
“What did they say?””
Sophie began to cry.
May you like
“They said they're going to make you disappear, Daddy.””
Then the call cut off.
