Chapter 3 - THE WALL BEHIND THE PANTRYPolice reached my condo within minutes.
The intruder was gone.
But the damage was everywhere.
Cabinet doors hung open.
My bedroom drawers had been emptied.
The mattress had been lifted.
Even family photographs had been turned face down.
“They weren't looking for valuables,” Reyes said.
“No.”
I stared at the pantry.
“They were looking for something specific.”
The shelves had been ripped from the wall.
Behind them was a rectangular cavity.
Empty.
Almost.
I ran my fingers along the wooden frame and felt something taped beneath it.
A folded piece of paper.
Reyes photographed it before opening it.
Five words were written in blue ink:
FOUNDATION SEVEN IS SAFE.
Below that:
DO NOT TRUST THE YOUNGER BROTHER.
Julian.
Maya's husband.
Before we could ask more, Maya arrived with her children.
“Julian is gone,” she whispered.
Then her ten-year-old daughter, Sophie, spoke.
“Daddy took me to Grandma's office last week.”
“What did you hear?”
“He said Aunt Claire would sign after dinner.”
My heart sank.
The dinner hadn't been an attempt to persuade me.
It had been an operation.
They had expected Adrian to force my signature.
I examined the wall.
As a structural engineer, I knew the dimensions were wrong.
“There is another cavity.”
A technician drilled a small opening.
The camera revealed a steel box.
Inside was a brass key and a photograph of a parking structure.
A red number seven was painted on one of the concrete columns.
The address belonged to my building.
We descended into the underground garage.
Pier Seven stood beside the emergency stairwell.
A hairline crack ran through the concrete.
Fresh dust surrounded it.
Then came a deep mechanical groan.
The wall shifted.
A section of concrete collapsed.
Behind it was a hidden chamber.
And someone was inside.
A pale hand appeared through the darkness.
Then a woman's voice whispered:
“Please.”
She coughed.
“Don't let the Caldwells know I'm alive.”
I knew that voice only from the photographs.
“Lydia?”
The woman looked up.
Her face was thinner than it should have been.
Her eyes were full of terror.
“Yes.”
She stared at the bloodstained bandage around my head.
“Adrian did that, didn't he?”
I nodded.
May you like
Lydia closed her eyes.
“I was afraid he would eventually do the same thing to you.”
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