Chapter 3 - THE SECOND ROOM
The police searched the hidden chamber twice.
They found no second child.
No second chain.
No second mattress.
Nothing.
Detective Marcus Reed crouched in front of Leo at the hospital three hours later.
“Leo, when you said somebody else was in there, what did you mean?”
Leo sat in a hospital bed with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders.
Arthur stayed beside him.
Elena stood near the window.
Leo looked at Detective Reed.
“I could hear somebody.”
“A man?”
“I don’t know.”
“A woman?”
“I don’t know.”
“A kid?”
Leo swallowed.
“Maybe.”
Arthur felt sick.
“How often?”
“At night.”
“What would you hear?”
“Crying.”
Detective Reed leaned forward.
“Where did it come from?”
“The floor.”
Elena turned.
“The floor?”
Leo nodded.
“There was a vent under the mattress. Victoria didn’t know I found it.”
Arthur looked at Elena.
She already understood.
“The original house had a basement,” she said.
Arthur frowned.
“No. It doesn’t.”
“The current plans don’t show one.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means somebody sealed it.”
Detective Reed stood.
“You saw older plans?”
“County archives. The house was remodeled in 1998. There was a full lower level before that.”
Arthur stared at her.
“Why were you looking at old plans?”
Elena hesitated.
“I thought I heard something in the wall two weeks ago.”
Arthur’s expression hardened.
“Two weeks?”
“I wasn’t sure.”
“You knew?”
“I suspected.”
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“What was I supposed to say? ‘Hey, Arthur, I think your missing son might be living behind your wallpaper’?”
“Yes!”
“I needed proof.”
Arthur stood.
“My son spent two extra weeks in there because you needed proof?”
Elena’s jaw tightened.
“You hired me to repair water damage. I found a vent that didn’t belong there. Then food disappeared from the renovation trash. Then yesterday I heard tapping.”
Arthur looked away.
He knew she was right.
But rage needed somewhere to go.
Detective Reed interrupted.
“Arthur, we need to focus on Victoria.”
He held up a phone.
“We found her SUV at a gas station twelve miles north.”
“Did you find her?”
“No.”
“What about cameras?”
“She got into another vehicle.”
“Whose?”
“We’re working on it.”
Leo suddenly whispered, “Black truck.”
Everyone looked at him.
“What?” Reed asked.
“She left in a black truck before.”
“When?”
“When she brought food.”
Arthur stared at his son.
“You saw outside?”
“Sometimes the door opened and I could see through the crack.”
“Did you see the driver?”
Leo nodded slowly.
Arthur leaned closer.
“Who was it?”
Leo’s lower lip began trembling.
“Uncle Nolan.”
Arthur went completely still.
Elena looked at him.
“Who’s Nolan?”
Arthur answered without taking his eyes off Leo.
“My brother.”
Detective Reed’s phone rang.
He checked the screen.
“Reed.”
He listened.
His expression changed.
“Where?”
Another pause.
“You’re sure?”
He ended the call.
Arthur stepped forward.
“What?”
Reed looked at him.
“We found your brother’s truck.”
“And Nolan?”
“Not yet.”
“Where’s the truck?”
Detective Reed’s voice dropped.
May you like
“Behind your house.”
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