CHAPTER 5 — The House Where It Began
Emily’s childhood home had stood empty since her father’s death.
Victor had repeatedly urged her to sell it.
Now she understood why.
Detective Bennett ordered Emily and Elena to remain at the hospital while officers surrounded the property.
Elena refused.
“Harold may know who took me.”
“And Victor may be waiting for you,” Bennett warned.
“That’s exactly why I’m going.”
Emily stood beside her.
“So am I.”
“You’re eight months pregnant.”
“He tried to kill my child twice tonight. I’m done hiding in rooms while other people decide what happens to my family.”
The sisters traveled in an armored police vehicle.
The old Whitmore house stood at the edge of a frozen lake. Its windows were dark, and dead vines covered the stone walls.
Inside, they found Harold Grant chained to a radiator in the basement.
He was weak but conscious.
Victor was gone.
Harold looked at Elena and began crying.
“I thought you were dead.”
“You knew me?” she asked.
“I helped your father hide you.”
Elena stepped back.
“You let me grow up in foster homes.”
“We placed you with a private family. They were supposed to take you overseas. Three days later, their car was found abandoned. Your father believed you had been killed.”
“Who took me from them?”
Harold looked toward Emily.
“Victor’s father.”
Richard Carter had been a trusted financial adviser to the Whitmore family.
He had discovered that Emily’s father planned to remove him from the company after learning he had stolen millions.
Richard arranged Elena’s disappearance to force Charles Whitmore into silence.
Victor had continued his father’s work.
“He married Emily to gain access to the trust,” Harold said. “But when he learned Elena was alive, he realized the trust would never belong entirely to him.”
“Did Victor kill our father?” Emily asked.
Harold lowered his eyes.
“I saw Victor leave the office that night.”
Emily went still.
“Why didn’t you tell the police?”
“Because Victor showed me photographs of my grandchildren. He knew where they lived. I was a coward.”
A sound came from upstairs.
Bennett raised her weapon.
Police searched the house.
No one was there.
Then Emily noticed a light shining beneath the basement stairs.
They found a steel lockbox hidden behind loose bricks.
Inside were financial ledgers, photographs, and a digital recorder.
The recorder contained a conversation between Victor and his father.
Victor’s voice said:
Once Charles is gone, Emily will be easy to control.
Then Richard replied:
Only if the other girl stays buried.
The recording ended with a third voice.
A woman.
Emily recognized it instantly.
It belonged to her mother.
She had been declared dead twenty-seven years earlier.
On the recording, she said:
You will never touch either of my daughters again.
Harold stared at the machine.
“That recording was made after your mother’s funeral.”
Emily looked at him.
“Are you saying my mother is alive?”
Before Harold could answer, the house shook.
May you like
Flames exploded across the staircase.
Victor had locked them inside and set the house on fire.
