Chapter 7 - The Room Beneath My Bedroom and the Truth Claire Hid From Me
That night, we moved the triplets into the chapel basement.
The ranch was no longer safe.
We returned only after Carter had cleared the perimeter.
The coordinates from the blue rabbit led directly beneath my bedroom.
I moved the rug.
Nothing.
Then Emma noticed a scratch near the fireplace.
A hidden latch.
The wall opened.
A staircase descended.
Cold air rose from below.
I felt sick.
We went down.
At the bottom was a room.
Claire's room.
Not a bedroom.
A secret archive.
Her journals.
Photographs.
Medical reports.
Letters.
And a single crib.
An empty crib.
I walked toward it.
A note was taped to the wood.
FOR THE CHILD WE LOST BEFORE THE THREE.
My knees nearly gave out.
I had never known there had been another pregnancy.
Claire had never told me.
I opened her journal.
She wrote that before the triplets, she had lost a child.
She believed someone had caused the miscarriage.
She had begun investigating.
That's when she discovered Project Willow.
That's why she had become afraid.
I kept reading.
Claire had never stopped loving me.
She had simply stopped trusting the people around me.
One name appeared repeatedly.
Victor.
But not as a villain.
As an ally.
Another name appeared more often.
Richard Vale.
Then I found a photograph of Richard with my father.
Behind them stood a young Victor.
And beside Victor was Emma's father.
Everything connected.
I found the final letter.
Daniel,
The triplets are safe only if you understand one thing.
The danger isn't outside the family.
It's inside it.
I stopped.
Inside the family.
Who did Claire mean?
My mind immediately went to Victor.
But Victor was standing beside me.
He looked just as stunned.
Then Emma noticed another folder.
It contained payroll records.
One employee had received unusually large payments for years.
The name was Margaret Whitmore.
My mother.
My heart stopped.
My mother had died ten years earlier.
Why was she receiving money from Project Willow?
Then I saw a photograph.
Margaret standing beside Richard Vale.
And suddenly I remembered something from childhood.
My mother always hated Richard.
At least, that's what I thought.
Maybe she hadn't hated him.
Maybe she'd been afraid of him.
The room shook.
Someone had triggered an explosion upstairs.
We ran.
Smoke filled the corridor.
Carter shouted for everyone to move.
We grabbed the children.
Emma carried Lily.
I carried Sophie and Grace.
Victor covered the exit.
Then we heard a voice.
“Daniel.”
Richard Vale.
He stood in the burning doorway.
Older than the last photograph.
But unmistakable.
“You look just like your father.”
I raised my gun.
“You killed Claire.”
He smiled.
“No.”
“Then who did?”
He pointed at Victor.
“He did.”
Victor stepped forward.
“Don't listen.”
Richard laughed.
“Ask him what happened the night Claire died.”
I looked at Victor.
He said nothing.
My heart sank.
“Victor?”
Richard continued.
“He was there.”
“What happened?”
Victor's eyes filled with tears.
“I tried to save her.”
Richard smiled.
“Tell him.”
Victor finally spoke.
“Claire knew she was in danger.”
“She asked me to take the babies away if anything happened.”
“What happened?”
“Mercer entered the room.”
“And?”
“I fought her.”
“Then?”
“Claire was already dying.”
I looked at Richard.
“You caused it.”
He smiled.
“I gave the order.”
I raised the gun.
Richard said one final thing.
“Shoot me, Daniel, and you'll never know why Claire left one daughter with you and two with the hospital.”
I froze.
“What?”
Richard turned and disappeared into the smoke.
Emma screamed.
“Daniel!”
I turned.
May you like
One of the triplets was gone.
Grace.
