Chapter 6 - THE RABBIT’S SECRET
Evelyn did not remember climbing through the service tunnel.
She remembered Gabriel’s hand on her shoulder.
She remembered Vivian counting backward under her breath.
She remembered emerging into an alley where rain struck the pavement in silver lines.
Everything else became a blur organized around one fact.
Julian had Lily.
Detective Torres denied sending anyone to Gabriel’s office.
She immediately issued an alert for the vehicle captured by a traffic camera outside the building.
The car belonged to a private security company contracted by the Carrington Foundation.
Its GPS unit had been disabled.
Patrick Lorne called the abduction a misunderstanding before investigators had even confirmed the vehicle.
He claimed his daughter had been impersonated.
Torres did not believe him.
Neither did Evelyn.
Gabriel drove toward Lake Forest.
Vivian used an old foundation login to access the training center’s internal map.
The property covered forty-two wooded acres.
Dormitories stood near the soccer fields.
Administrative offices occupied the main lodge.
The maintenance building sat beyond the tree line beside an unused rail spur.
A private road connected the property to the Carrington estate six miles away.
“If Julian is holding Ethan there, he may bring Lily to the same place,” Evelyn said.
Gabriel kept both hands tight on the steering wheel.
“Or he may use the private road to move her to the estate.”
“Can the rabbit tell us?”
Vivian opened a hidden Carrington tracking portal.
Marcus had placed a passive transmitter inside the rabbit three years earlier.
It activated only when within range of Carrington security receivers.
A blue dot appeared on the map.
It was moving north.
“That is her,” Evelyn said.
The dot passed the training center entrance without turning.
It continued toward the estate.
Vivian looked at the screen.
“Julian is taking her to the main house.”
“Why?”
“The rabbit once belonged to Marcus.”
“So?”
“He may believe Marcus hid something inside it.”
“Did he?”
Vivian hesitated.
“He told me the rabbit would carry the truth if he could not.”
“What truth?”
“I assumed he meant the tracker.”
“You assumed.”
“I never opened it.”
Evelyn remembered Lily refusing a new stuffed bear.
The rabbit had belonged to her since infancy.
Marcus bought it from a hospital gift shop on the night she was born.
Lily slept with it after his death.
Evelyn had sewn the ear twice and replaced one button eye.
She had never examined the inner stuffing.
“Julian will cut it apart,” she said.
“He will do worse if Lily refuses to give it to him.”
Gabriel accelerated.
Torres warned them not to approach the estate.
Police units were being organized.
Patrick Lorne had delayed the request for a warrant, claiming no evidence placed Lily on Carrington property.
Evelyn sent Torres a screenshot of the tracker.
Lorne called the information unreliable because it came from a private family system.
The delay was deliberate.
Julian needed time.
The Carrington estate rose beyond iron gates and ancient trees.
The mansion’s limestone walls reflected the rain.
Marcus had grown up there.
Evelyn had spent ten Christmases inside those rooms.
Lily had taken her first steps in the west library.
Now guards stood at the gate with instructions not to admit her.
Gabriel stopped the car out of camera range.
Vivian pointed toward a narrow service road.
“It leads to the old greenhouse.”
“Is it guarded?”
“Usually not.”
They abandoned the car beneath pine trees and continued on foot.
Rain soaked Evelyn’s sweater.
Mud ruined her borrowed shoes.
She felt nothing except the desperate need to reach her daughter.
The greenhouse stood behind a stone wall.
Most of its windows were dark.
Vivian entered a code.
The side door unlocked.
A tunnel beneath the greenhouse connected to the mansion’s wine cellar.
Eleanor once used it to move servants during large events.
Marcus and Julian had played inside it as children.
Vivian led them through damp darkness.
Halfway to the mansion, her phone vibrated.
The tracker had stopped moving.
Lily was inside the east wing.
“The old nursery,” Evelyn said.
“How do you know?”
“The receiver name is E-Nursery.”
Gabriel contacted Torres.
She said patrol officers were finally approaching the front gate.
Patrick Lorne had ordered them to wait for a supervisor.
“By the time they enter, Julian could move her,” Gabriel said.
Evelyn continued forward.
The tunnel ended behind a wine rack.
They entered the cellar and climbed a service staircase.
Voices echoed from the floor above.
Julian was speaking.
Eleanor answered him.
Evelyn recognized the nursery corridor.
She moved toward the half-open door.
Gabriel caught her arm.
“We need to know how many people are inside.”
“My daughter is inside.”
“So is the man who may have killed Marcus.”
“That is why you should stay here.”
Evelyn pulled free.
Through the narrow opening, she saw Lily sitting on a velvet bench.
Her hands were not tied.
A guard stood behind her.
Eleanor stood near the fireplace, pale and rigid.
Julian held the cloth rabbit by one ear.
“Where did your father hide the key?” he asked.
Lily glared at him.
“My daddy is dead.”
“That does not answer the question.”
“You pushed me.”
“You tried to run.”
“You lied.”
Julian’s face tightened.
“Children should not call adults liars.”
“Mommy says truth does not change because someone rich hates it.”
Eleanor looked away.
Julian placed the rabbit on a table.
He removed a small knife.
Evelyn moved forward.
Gabriel stopped her again.
“Wait.”
Julian cut the stitches along the rabbit’s back.
Lily stood.
“No.”
The guard pressed her gently but firmly onto the bench.
Julian pulled out white stuffing.
A small plastic capsule fell onto the table.
Vivian whispered behind Evelyn.
“I have never seen that.”
Julian opened the capsule.
Inside was a folded strip of waterproof paper.
He unfolded it.
The message contained a sequence of letters and numbers.
Julian smiled.
“At last.”
Eleanor stepped closer.
“What is it?”
“The access code to Marcus’s private cloud archive.”
“You said those files had been destroyed.”
“I said they would be.”
“You told me Marcus stole from the foundation.”
“He did.”
“Then why are you afraid of his files?”
Julian looked at his mother.
“Because grief has made you sentimental.”
Eleanor’s voice hardened.
“Answer me.”
Julian slipped the code into his pocket.
“You do not need answers.”
“I signed a federal complaint against Evelyn.”
“Because I told you to.”
“You told me it would protect Marcus’s name.”
“It will protect the name that matters.”
Eleanor stared at him.
“The Carrington name?”
“My name.”
Evelyn saw the truth reach Eleanor slowly.
The matriarch had protected appearances for so long that she had mistaken obedience for control.
Julian no longer needed her approval.
He needed her signature.
Lily looked toward the doorway.
Her eyes found Evelyn.
She did not cry out.
She pressed her lips together and looked at the guard behind her.
Evelyn understood.
One guard.
Julian.
Eleanor.
Gabriel whispered that police sirens were approaching.
Vivian moved toward the corridor’s security panel.
She could lock the east wing doors and trap Julian inside.
Before she reached it, another voice came from behind them.
“Do not touch that panel.”
Claire Lorne stood at the end of the corridor.
She held a pistol low beside her leg.
Her police badge was clipped to her belt.
Gabriel raised his hands.
Claire motioned them into the nursery.
Julian smiled when Evelyn entered.
“I knew you would follow the rabbit.”
Lily ran toward her.
The guard caught the child around the waist.
Evelyn stopped.
“Let her go.”
“Give me the recorder,” Julian said.
“You already have Marcus’s archive code.”
“I need both.”
“You cannot erase every copy.”
“I do not need to.”
Julian looked toward Claire.
“I only need the evidence discovered beside the bodies of the people who stole it.”
Eleanor stepped backward.
“What bodies?”
Julian’s smile remained calm.
“Mother, you should have stayed downstairs.”
Claire closed the nursery door.
Police sirens grew louder beyond the windows.
Julian checked his watch.
“They will enter through the front in four minutes.”
Gabriel glanced at the fireplace.
Smoke had begun curling from beneath the mantel.
Evelyn smelled gasoline.
Julian had prepared the nursery to burn.
He planned to kill all of them and blame Evelyn for destroying the evidence.
Lily saw the smoke.
“Mommy.”
Evelyn held her gaze.
“Stay calm.”
Julian reached for the recorder inside Evelyn’s coat.
Before he touched her, Eleanor stepped between them.
“No.”
Julian stared at his mother.
Eleanor’s voice shook, but she did not move.
“You will not touch Marcus’s wife or his child again.”
Julian’s expression became empty.
Then he raised his hand and struck Eleanor across the face.
She fell against the table.
The blue velvet brooch case slipped from her gown pocket.
It opened on the floor.
Inside lay the real diamond brooch.
Julian looked down in shock.
Eleanor touched her bleeding lip.
“I knew you would come for it,” she whispered.
May you like
She looked at Evelyn.
“Run.”
