Chapter 3 - The Red Room Was the Secret Cole Had Spent Twenty Years Hiding
Cole took Claire to the old Mercer estate.
The mansion was smaller than the current one.
Older.
Darker.
A place that felt haunted without needing ghosts.
He led her down a corridor.
At the end stood a locked room.
“What's inside?”
“My father's records.”
“He kept them here?”
“Yes.”
Cole opened the door.
Files filled the walls.
Claire walked inside.
She saw her mother's name.
Catherine Bennett.
A photograph.
Her mother.
Standing beside Cole's father.
And another man.
Claire stared.
“Who is he?”
Cole looked.
His expression changed.
“My uncle.”
“Victor Mercer?”
“Yes.”
“Is he dead?”
“No.”
Claire turned.
“Then why have I never heard of him?”
“Because the family believes he died.”
“Did he?”
“No.”
Cole opened another file.
Inside was a newspaper clipping.
Victor Mercer had disappeared twenty-two years ago.
The same month Catherine disappeared.
Claire's heart pounded.
“Where is he?”
“I don't know.”
Then she found something.
A handwritten note.
In her mother's handwriting.
The Red Room isn't a room. It's a person.
Claire frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Cole stared.
“I don't know.”
But someone else did.
A man standing in the doorway.
Reed Carter.
Cole's head of security.
He looked at Claire.
Then at Cole.
“You shouldn't have brought her here.”
Cole's expression hardened.
“Why?”
“Because now they know.”
“Who?”
Reed didn't answer.
Instead, he locked the door.
Claire stepped back.
“What are you doing?”
“Keeping you alive.”
She looked at Cole.
“What is happening?”
Cole's voice was quiet.
“Someone inside my family knows you're here.”
Reed handed him a file.
“Your father left this.”
Cole opened it.
A photograph fell out.
Claire's mother.
Holding a baby.
Claire.
Cole stared.
“I've never seen this.”
Reed nodded.
“Your father had it.”
Claire's eyes filled with tears.
“My mother knew your family.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Reed looked at her.
“She was protecting you.”
“From whom?”
Reed whispered:
“Victor.”
Then the lights went out.
A gunshot struck the wall.
Cole pushed Claire behind him.
Reed fired back.
When the emergency lights came on, the doorway was empty.
The file was gone.
So was the photograph.
Cole turned toward Claire.
“Stay with me.”
She looked at him.
“I don't think I have much choice.”
He took her hand.
For the first time, the contact lasted longer than necessary.
Neither moved.
Then Claire whispered:
“Are you scared?”
Cole answered honestly.
“Yes.”
“Of Victor?”
“No.”
He looked at her.
May you like
“Of losing you.”
---
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