Chapter 5 - The Woman Who Buried Herself
Smoke entered fast.
Roman wrapped his jacket around Sophie’s face.
Claire searched the walls.
“There’s another exit.”
“Where?”
“Arthur built one.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
Roman stared at her.
“You hid in this room and never found it?”
“I haven’t been here in seven years.”
Sophie coughed harder.
Roman forced himself to focus.
His father had been paranoid.
Arthur Vale would never build a hidden room with only one entrance.
Roman searched the shelves.
Files.
Wall panels.
Cabinets.
Claire found a brass lever beneath the desk.
She pulled.
Nothing.
Roman pushed the desk aside.
Behind it was an iron panel.
No keypad.
Only a circular lock.
Sophie suddenly pulled the silver key from Roman’s hand.
“The bank key.”
Roman looked at her.
The 417 key was narrow.
Old-fashioned.
Not like a standard modern safe-deposit key.
Claire stared.
“Try it.”
Roman inserted it.
It fit.
The panel opened.
Cold air rushed through.
A narrow stairwell descended into darkness.
Roman lifted Sophie.
“Go.”
Claire went first.
Roman followed.
Above them, something exploded.
The floor shook.
They descended thirty steps.
Then fifty.
Finally the staircase ended at a steel door.
Roman pushed.
It opened into the wine cellar beneath the main house.
Daniel and two guards were waiting.
Daniel grabbed Roman’s shoulder.
“You okay?”
“Sophie first.”
A medic hurried over.
Roman refused to let anyone take her until Sophie nodded.
“I’m okay.”
Only then did Roman release her.
He turned toward Daniel.
“Who started the fire?”
“We don’t know.”
“Cameras?”
“Still down.”
“Staff?”
“Being checked.”
Roman looked at Helena.
She stood at the far end of the cellar with two security guards beside her.
For once, she seemed genuinely afraid.
Claire stepped from behind Roman.
Helena closed her eyes.
“Claire.”
Roman looked between them.
There it was.
Proof.
No surprise.
No disbelief.
They had known.
Roman walked toward his mother.
“How long?”
Helena remained silent.
“How long have you known Claire was alive?”
“Seven years.”
Roman nodded slowly.
“And Sophie?”
“Eight.”
Nora arrived at the cellar door.
When she saw Claire, relief crossed her face.
Then anger.
“You disappeared.”
Claire approached her.
“I’m sorry.”
Nora stepped back.
“No.”
Claire stopped.
“You told me to bring Sophie here if something happened.”
“I know.”
“You knew what would happen.”
“No.”
“You knew this house wasn’t safe.”
“Nora—”
“You used me.”
Claire flinched.
Roman watched them.
Everyone had secrets.
Everyone except Sophie.
The child had been the only person telling the truth.
Roman knelt in front of her.
“Do you want to stay here?”
Sophie glanced at Claire.
Then Helena.
Then Nora.
Finally she looked at Roman.
“With you.”
Roman nodded.
“That’s what we’re doing.”
Helena stepped forward.
“That may not be possible.”
Roman stood.
“Try me.”
“I’m talking legally.”
Roman’s eyes narrowed.
“What did you do?”
Helena sighed.
“There is no legal record showing that Sophie is your daughter.”
Roman stared at her.
“What?”
“Her original birth certificate was sealed.”
“By whom?”
“I arranged it.”
“And the new one?”
“Lists Claire under another name.”
Roman turned toward Claire.
“You agreed to this?”
Claire whispered.
“Yes.”
Roman laughed.
“Of course you did.”
Sophie looked between them.
“Am I not your daughter?”
Roman immediately turned.
“You are my daughter.”
“But Grandma said—”
“I don’t care what any paper says.”
He pointed toward his chest.
“I remember the day you were born.”
“I held you before anyone else except the doctor.”
“You grabbed my finger.”
“You wouldn’t let go.”
Sophie’s eyes filled.
“You remember that?”
“I remember everything.”
Claire turned away, crying.
Roman continued.
“No piece of paper can change who you are.”
Helena spoke quietly.
“The papers can determine who gets custody.”
Roman looked at her.
A dangerous stillness entered him.
“You threaten me with custody after stealing eight years?”
“I’m telling you what the law will see.”
“I have lawyers.”
“So does whoever has been protecting the Circle.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“What exactly are you saying?”
Helena looked at Roman.
“The false records weren’t created by me alone.”
Roman’s pulse slowed.
“Who helped?”
“A judge.”
“Name.”
“No.”
“Name.”
“If I say it in this house, Sophie may not survive another night.”
Roman stepped so close their faces were inches apart.
“You have used that sentence for eight years.”
Helena’s eyes hardened.
“Because it has been true for eight years.”
Claire interrupted.
“She’s right.”
Roman turned.
Claire pulled a folder from inside her coat.
She opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
A man entering a courthouse.
Roman recognized him.
Judge Malcolm Reed.
Family Court.
Longtime Vale family friend.
Roman had known him since childhood.
Claire pointed at the picture.
“He signed Sophie’s new identity.”
Roman stared.
Judge Reed had attended Sophie’s funeral.
He had stood beside Roman.
He had said he was sorry for his loss.
Roman whispered.
“I want everything.”
Claire shook her head.
“You’re not ready.”
Roman looked at her.
“I buried my daughter.”
“I buried my wife.”
“I lost eight years.”
“My father may have been murdered.”
“Someone just tried to burn all three of us alive.”
He stepped closer.
“Never tell me I’m not ready again.”
Claire slowly opened another file.
Bank transfers.
Court orders.
Death certificates.
Police reports.
Names.
Roman scanned them.
Then stopped.
One name appeared repeatedly.
DANIEL CROSS.
Roman looked up.
His security chief was standing ten feet away.
Daniel noticed the change in his expression.
“What?”
Roman held up the page.
Claire whispered.
“Roman.”
He looked at her.
“Daniel was assigned to Arthur the night he died.”
Roman stared at his oldest employee.
Daniel’s face went blank.
Then Claire said something worse.
May you like
“He was also the last person captured on camera entering Sophie’s nursery before she disappeared.”
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