Chapter 6 - The Girl Behind the Locked Door
Ethan flew to Canada that night.
He didn't tell Vanessa.
He didn't tell his uncle.
He told only Mason, Daniel, and Sophia.
They found the clinic hidden behind a private psychiatric rehabilitation center outside Vancouver.
It wasn't technically illegal.
It didn't have to be.
Money could make almost anything legal enough to survive paperwork.
Ethan walked through the front doors with a judge's emergency order.
The receptionist stared.
"Mr. Callaway?"
"Where is Grace Callaway?"
The woman stood.
"You need to speak with administration."
"Where is my daughter?"
She began shaking.
Mason stepped forward.
"Answer him."
The receptionist whispered:
"Room twelve."
Ethan ran.
He reached the hallway.
Room twelve.
His hand closed around the handle.
He opened the door.
A young woman sat beside the window.
She looked twenty years older than the photograph and three years younger than the world had told him she was.
Her hair was longer.
Her face thinner.
But the eyes—
Brown.
Exactly like his memories.
She looked at him.
Neither spoke.
Then she whispered:
"Daddy?"
Ethan collapsed.
He didn't fall dramatically.
He simply lost the strength in his legs.
Grace stood slowly.
She crossed the room.
Then crouched beside him.
She touched his face.
"You're real."
Ethan sobbed.
"I'm real."
She smiled through tears.
"I knew you would come."
"Why didn't they let me find you?"
Grace looked toward the hallway.
"Because they told me you didn't want me."
His face broke.
"What?"
"They told me you blamed me."
"No."
"They said Mommy died because of me."
Ethan grabbed her hands.
"Grace, listen to me."
She looked at him.
"I never stopped loving you."
She cried.
"I'm sorry."
He pulled her into his arms.
For three years he'd imagined holding a dead child.
Now he was holding his living daughter.
Outside the room, Sophia covered her mouth.
Lily stood beside her.
"Mama?"
Sophia knelt.
"Yes?"
"Is that Grace?"
Sophia looked at the doorway.
"Yes."
Lily smiled.
"She's pretty."
Sophia laughed through tears.
"Yes, she is."
That night, Grace told them everything.
After the accident, she had survived.
But she had been badly injured.
Victor arranged for her to be transferred.
Richard provided the paperwork.
Vanessa visited.
She told Grace that Ethan blamed her.
Then they kept her hidden.
Why?
Because Grace had seen something she wasn't supposed to see.
She had seen Victor and Richard arguing with Clare.
She had heard them talk about money.
She had seen documents.
And Clare had made her memorize one phrase.
"Blue door. Saint Mary's. Third floor."
Grace repeated it.
Ethan frowned.
"What is Saint Mary's?"
Sophia went pale.
"It's the orphanage where I met Clare."
Mason looked at the others.
"Then that's where we go."
But Grace stopped Ethan before he left.
"Daddy."
He turned.
"Yes?"
"Vanessa wasn't alone."
"Who was with her?"
Grace stared at him.
"Uncle Victor."
Ethan closed his eyes.
The pieces fit.
Richard had money.
Victor had access.
Vanessa had proximity.
Clare had discovered them.
And Grace had been a witness.
But one question remained.
"Who killed Clare?"
Grace's expression changed.
"I don't know."
"Did you see her?"
"That night."
"What night?"
"The night she disappeared."
Ethan leaned closer.
"Tell me."
Grace's hands trembled.
"Mommy came to my room."
"At home?"
"Yes."
"She said something?"
"She said, 'You have to be brave.'"
Grace's eyes filled.
"Then Uncle Victor came."
"What happened?"
"Mommy told him she had everything."
"What did he say?"
Grace whispered:
"He said, 'Then we'll take the children.'"
Ethan's blood turned cold.
Children.
Plural.
"Then what?"
"Mommy grabbed me and ran."
"Where?"
"To the garden."
Ethan froze.
"The garden?"
Grace nodded.
"She put something under a stone."
"What?"
"I don't know."
"Then?"
"Vanessa came."
Ethan couldn't breathe.
"What did she do?"
Grace began crying.
"She told Mommy she was sorry."
Then she whispered:
"And then Mommy fell."
The next morning, investigators searched the garden.
They found the stone.
Under it was a metal box.
Inside:
Original company records.
Photographs.
And a voice recorder.
Ethan pressed play.
Clare's voice filled the room.
"If you're hearing this, they've already found me."
A man's voice answered.
Victor.
"You never should have touched those files."
Clare replied:
"You should never have touched my children."
Ethan closed his eyes.
Then another voice entered.
Vanessa.
"I'm sorry, Clare."
Clare whispered:
"Don't."
Vanessa cried.
"I didn't know he would go this far."
Victor said:
"You made your choice."
Then there was a crash.
A scream.
The recording ended.
Mason looked at Ethan.
"That's enough."
Ethan stared at the device.
"No."
"What?"
"Not enough."
"Why?"
He pressed another button.
A second recording began.
This one was clearer.
Vanessa's voice.
"Victor, she can't go to the police."
Victor answered.
"Then make sure she doesn't."
Ethan's face became empty.
Mason said:
"That's murder conspiracy."
Ethan shook his head.
"Where is Vanessa?"
Back in America.
May you like
Waiting at the house.
She had no idea the game had changed.
