CHAPTER 2 — Six Minutes
The floorboard came loose with a sharp crack.
A rush of freezing air rose through the opening.
Daniel dropped the pry bar and tore away the second board with his bare hands. Beneath the hardwood was not ordinary dirt or concrete.
It was a metal hatch.
Someone had built a hidden compartment beneath Patricia’s living room.
“Leo!” Mariana screamed.
A faint sound answered from below.
“Mommy?”
Daniel ripped the hatch open.
The smell that escaped made Mariana cover Inés’s face against her shoulder. The space beneath the floor was narrow, dark, and lined with cheap insulation. A small mattress had been pushed against one wall.
There were empty water bottles.
Food wrappers.
A plastic bucket.
And curled beneath a thin gray blanket was Leo.
He looked smaller than Daniel remembered.
His dark hair was tangled. His lips were pale. One ankle was connected to a short chain secured to a metal ring in the wall.
But he was alive.
Daniel lowered himself into the compartment.
“Daddy?”
Leo’s eyes opened halfway.
Daniel gathered his son into his arms.
“I’m here,” he whispered. “I’ve got you.”
Mariana collapsed beside the opening, sobbing as Daniel lifted Leo toward her. She pressed the boy against her chest while Inés touched his face with trembling fingers.
“I told you,” Inés whispered. “He was cold.”
Patricia stood near the wall, staring at the open compartment.
She looked horrified.
Not surprised.
Horrified.
Daniel climbed out and turned on her.
“How long?”
Patricia said nothing.
“How long has he been under your floor?”
Her mouth opened, but before she could answer, a small red light began flashing inside the hidden room.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Patricia’s face lost all color.
“What is that?” Mariana demanded.
Patricia looked toward the front windows.
Beyond the curtains, the automatic gate at the end of the driveway began to close.
The lights inside the house flickered.
Then every door locked at once.
Patricia grabbed Daniel’s wrist.
“You triggered the hatch sensor.”
“Who does it alert?”
Her eyes filled with terror.
“The man who built the room.”
Daniel pulled out his phone, but the screen showed no signal.
Patricia stared at the flashing light.
“You have to get Leo out of this house.”
“Why?”
She looked at the clock above the fireplace.
“Because Esteban lives six minutes away.”
A low mechanical sound came from beneath the house.
Something was moving inside the darkness beyond Leo’s mattress.
May you like
Patricia backed away from the opening.
“And he never comes here alone.”
