Chapter 3: Eleven Days in Darkness
Mark tore open the envelope.
“Stop,” Vanessa said.
“Your mother was confused when she wrote that.”
“You told me she trusted you.”
“She did—until Ethan poisoned her against me.”
Mark unfolded the first page.
His mother’s handwriting shook across the paper.
“‘Mark, Ethan did not take my money.
Vanessa moved it through an account opened in my name.
If Ethan disappears, ask Dr.
Simon Cole what he signed.’”
Vanessa reached for the letter again.
“That proves nothing.”
“It proves you lied about my brother.”
“He ran away.
I didn’t make him do that.”
A fist struck weakly against the hidden panel.
“I came back eleven days ago,” Ethan called.
“She was waiting for me.”
Mark looked at Vanessa.
“Eleven days?”
“He broke into our home,” she said.
“He frightened Lily.”
“No!” Lily shouted.
“Uncle Ethan rang the bell.
Mommy gave him tea, and then he fell down.”
Vanessa’s face tightened.
“She imagined that.”
“I saw you pull him across the floor.”
Mark crouched beside Lily.
“Sweetheart, where is the key?”
Lily pointed at Vanessa’s necklace.
“That little silver one.”
Vanessa closed her hand around it.
“You are not opening that door.”
“You locked my brother behind a wall.”
“He is unstable.
If you release him, anything that happens will be your fault.”
Mark stepped closer.
“Give me the key.”
“Choose carefully,” Vanessa whispered.
“Once you open that door, I will tell everyone you endangered your own daughter.”
Mark unclasped the chain before she could turn away.
Vanessa grabbed his wrist, but Lily placed herself between them.
“Please let Uncle Ethan out.”
The key fitted a hidden lock beneath the bookcase.
Mark turned it, and the entire shelf shifted forward with a low scrape.
A narrow room appeared behind it.
There was a small sink, an old mattress, and a tray containing an untouched glass of water.
Ethan lay against the wall, pale and trembling.
“Mark,” he breathed.
“Check the water.”
Mark lifted the glass.
A chalky layer rested at the bottom.
“What did you put in this?”
Vanessa backed toward the stairs.
“Nothing.
He refuses to drink because he wants to look helpless.”
Ethan tried to stand, but his knees folded.
Mark caught him before he reached the floor.
“She wanted the documents,” Ethan said.
“The ones proving what she did to Mom.”
“What documents?”
“A bank ledger and a recording.
I hid them before I came here.”
Vanessa pulled out her phone.
“I’m calling someone who can explain his condition.”
“Call an ambulance,” Mark said.
“I’m calling Dr.
Cole.”
Ethan seized Mark’s sleeve.
“No.
He signed the papers she used against Mom.”
Vanessa raised the phone to her ear.
“Simon, come now.
Ethan is out of the room, and Mark has the letter.”
“You knew he was in there?” Mark asked.
Vanessa met his eyes.
“You should have stayed on your business trip.”
A car door slammed outside.
Then another.
Mark moved Lily behind him as heavy footsteps climbed the front steps.
Vanessa smiled when the doorbell rang.
May you like
“You opened the wall,” she said softly.
“Now watch them take your brother away.”
