Chapter 3 - The Basement Door
Daniel had never run so fast in his life.
He pushed through the service corridor, ignoring the shouting guests behind him.
Hannah followed, one hand pressed against her aching ribs.
The cold concrete floor hurt her bare feet.
But she kept moving.
At the end of the hallway stood a steel door marked EMPLOYEES ONLY.
Daniel slammed his shoulder against it.
Locked.
"Move."
Hannah stepped aside.
He tried the handle again.
Nothing.
"There's another entrance," she said.
"Where?"
"Kitchen loading dock."
"How do you know?"
"My mother worked one of your family's events."
Daniel turned.
"Your mother?"
Hannah nodded.
"She spent three years getting close enough to Eleanor to ask questions."
He stared at her.
"Why didn't she come to me?"
"She tried."
Daniel looked wounded.
"She never contacted me."
"She sent you seven letters."
"I never received them."
"Your mother intercepted every one."
Daniel's jaw tightened.
Hannah swallowed.
"The last letter was delivered the morning your wife died."
For a moment, he stopped breathing.
"Caroline?"
"Yes."
"How do you know?"
"Because my mother kept a copy."
Daniel leaned against the wall.
Caroline had died seven years earlier after a long illness.
During her final months, she had become increasingly restless.
She kept saying something was wrong with Grace's death.
Daniel had blamed grief.
He had begged her to stop reading old medical records.
Now he remembered the last argument they had shared.
Caroline had stood in their bedroom holding a yellow envelope.
"Daniel, I need you to listen to me."
He had been exhausted.
"Not tonight, sweetheart."
"Your mother is lying."
He had snapped.
"Caroline, please."
And she had said something he never understood.
"One day you'll realize I wasn't trying to take your mother away from you."
He had walked out.
She died three weeks later.
Daniel covered his face.
Hannah touched his arm.
"We need to find Claire."
He forced himself upright.
"Show me."
They reached the loading dock.
A black SUV was pulling away.
Hannah saw Claire through the rear window.
Her face was pressed against the glass.
"THERE!"
Daniel sprinted toward the vehicle.
"STOP!"
The SUV accelerated.
Hannah grabbed a metal cart and pushed it into the driveway.
The driver swerved.
The cart crashed against the rear bumper.
The vehicle continued toward the ramp.
Daniel seized his phone.
"Call the police."
Hannah already had.
A dispatcher answered.
"Nine-one-one, what's your emergency?"
Hannah spoke quickly.
"An adult woman has been forced into a black SUV at the Whitmore Grand Ballroom."
"Do you have the license plate?"
Hannah strained to see.
"New York registration."
The vehicle turned.
She read the plate aloud.
Daniel shouted the direction of travel.
The dispatcher asked whether weapons were involved.
"I don't know," Hannah said.
"Stay in a safe location."
But Daniel was already running toward his car.
Hannah caught his sleeve.
"You're not thinking."
"That's my daughter!"
"We don't know that yet."
The words hurt him.
She saw it.
But she didn't apologize.
"We need proof."
Daniel stared at her.
"She was taken right in front of us."
"And if Eleanor has controlled this story for twenty-six years, she has people who know how to make witnesses disappear."
He stopped.
Hannah continued.
"My mother knew that."
"How?"
"Because someone tried to kill her."
Daniel went still.
Hannah pulled her phone from her purse.
She opened a photograph.
A hospital bed.
An older Korean American woman with gray hair.
A dark bruise above her left eyebrow.
Daniel stared.
"Who did that?"
"We never found out."
"When?"
"Six weeks before she died."
Hannah's voice trembled.
"She told the police she fell."
"But you don't believe that."
"No."
Hannah looked directly at him.
"She was terrified of your mother."
Daniel stared toward the ramp where the SUV had disappeared.
Then he looked at Hannah.
"What do you need?"
She hesitated.
"My mother's storage locker."
"Where?"
"Brooklyn."
"What's inside?"
"Everything she couldn't safely keep at home."
Daniel reached for his keys.
"Then we're going to Brooklyn."
As they crossed the parking garage, Hannah's phone rang.
Unknown number.
She answered.
A woman's voice spoke.
Weak.
Breathless.
"Hannah?"
"Claire?"
"Don't tell Daniel where you're going."
Hannah froze.
"Why?"
A sharp noise sounded in the background.
Claire whispered quickly.
"Because the man driving this car just called someone."
"Who?"
"Daniel's brother."
Hannah looked at Daniel.
"Claire, listen to me—"
"The man said they found the second file."
"What second file?"
Claire's breathing became uneven.
Then she whispered something that made Hannah's blood run cold.
"They said your mother wasn't the first nurse."
The connection ended.
Hannah stared at the screen.
Daniel gripped her shoulders.
"What did she say?"
Hannah slowly looked up.
"Daniel."
"What?"
"Do you have a brother?"
He frowned.
"Yes."
"What's his name?"
"Adrian."
Hannah took a step backward.
Because she had heard that name before.
It was written in her mother's notebook.
May you like
On a page titled:
THE MAN WHO PAID FOR THE SECOND BABY.
