Chapter 3 - THE LOCK BEHIND THE WALL
Hannah ran.
Nicholas shouted behind her.
“Hannah!”
She ignored him.
The corridor was nearly eighty feet long.
By the time she reached the east wing, the door had clicked shut.
She pulled it open.
Empty.
A lamp burned at the far end.
Nothing moved.
“Hector?”
No answer.
“Walter?”
Silence.
Hannah’s heart pounded.
She checked the first room.
Guest bedroom.
Second room.
Storage.
Third room.
Small nursing station.
Rebecca’s.
The room had been cleaned almost too well.
Bare desk.
Empty cabinets.
No personal items.
Hannah switched on the lights.
Nicholas arrived behind her, pushing his chair faster than she had ever seen him move.
“You could have gotten yourself killed.”
“You told me somebody may be trying to murder you and then expected me to walk slowly?”
“Yes.”
“Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize when you obviously aren’t sorry.”
“I wasn’t.”
Hannah started opening drawers.
All empty.
Nicholas watched.
“What exactly are you looking for?”
“A keyhole.”
“That narrows it down.”
Hannah ignored him.
She checked desk drawers.
Cabinet locks.
A metal medication chest.
Nothing.
Then she looked at the wall.
A framed anatomical print hung crookedly.
She lifted it.
Behind the frame was a recessed safe.
Nicholas went silent.
Hannah inserted the key.
It turned.
The safe opened.
Inside sat a small flash drive.
A sealed envelope.
And a red notebook.
Hannah picked up the envelope first.
NICHOLAS ONLY.
The handwriting was rushed.
Nicholas held out his hand.
Hannah gave it to him.
He tore it open.
A single page.
He read silently.
His face changed.
“What?”
Nicholas handed it to her.
Rebecca had written:
If you are reading this, I may already be gone.
Your episodes are not caused by your spinal injury.
Someone is altering your medication.
I tested one pill privately.
It contains a cardiac drug you were never prescribed.
Repeated doses could cause weakness, low blood pressure, confusion, and eventually fatal arrhythmia.
I believe someone wants your decline to look natural.
I also found something concerning your crash.
Do not trust the household records.
Do not trust medication delivered after 6 p.m.
And please, Nicholas—
Do not marry Claire.
Hannah read the final line twice.
Nicholas’s face had become stone.
He picked up the red notebook.
Pages were filled with dates.
Times.
Blood pressure readings.
Medication changes.
Names.
Claire.
Hector.
Dr. Burke.
Walter.
Hannah pointed at Walter’s name.
“You said you trusted him.”
“I do.”
“Rebecca apparently didn’t.”
Nicholas took the notebook.
Beside several dates, Rebecca had drawn circles.
Hannah looked closer.
Every circled date matched one of Nicholas’s worst reported episodes.
Next to each was a small letter.
C.
“What do you think that means?” he asked.
“Could be Claire.”
“Or coincidence.”
Hannah looked at him.
“Do you still believe in those?”
Before Nicholas answered, footsteps approached.
Fast.
Hannah closed the safe.
Too late.
Claire appeared in the doorway.
Her expression froze when she saw the red notebook.
“What are you doing in here?”
Nicholas held her gaze.
“Looking for something.”
Claire stepped closer.
“That room was cleared months ago.”
“Apparently not very well.”
She noticed the open envelope.
For the first time since Hannah met her, Claire looked genuinely frightened.
“What is that?”
Nicholas didn’t answer.
Claire reached for it.
He pulled it away.
“Nicholas.”
“Rebecca left it.”
Claire’s mouth parted.
“Rebecca?”
“You remember her.”
“Of course I remember her. She stole from you.”
“Did she?”
Claire looked at Hannah.
“You’ve been filling his head.”
Hannah crossed her arms.
“I didn’t write the letter.”
Claire stared at the safe.
“How did you open that?”
Nicholas smiled without warmth.
“You’re asking a lot of questions.”
Claire stepped back.
Then Hannah saw her hand move behind her dress.
A phone.
Claire typed one message without looking down.
Hannah saw only three words before the screen disappeared.
They found it.
Claire walked away.
Hannah rushed into the hall.
“Claire!”
But Claire was already moving toward the stairs.
Nicholas followed.
“Hannah.”
“What?”
“The flash drive.”
They both froze.
Hannah turned back toward the safe.
The notebook was there.
May you like
The envelope was there.
The flash drive was gone.
