Chapter 1 - Three Knocks Behind the Wall
Vanessa Carter had one arm locked around Lily’s waist when Daniel came through the storage-room doorway.
“Dad—open that wall!”
Vanessa’s hand snapped over the six-year-old’s mouth.
Daniel didn’t ask what was happening. He crossed the room, pulled Lily free, put her behind him, and struck Vanessa once across the face.
“Don’t touch her.”
Vanessa staggered into a stack of moving boxes. Her burgundy blouse had come untucked at the waist, and for the first time since Daniel had known her, she looked less angry than terrified.
Lily pointed at the tall walnut wardrobe against the back wall.
“Behind it.”
Daniel turned.
The storage room occupied the north side of their century-old house in Winnetka, Illinois, a few blocks west of Sheridan Road. He and Vanessa had bought the place after their wedding eighteen months earlier, though “bought” wasn’t quite accurate. Daniel had inherited most of the house from his father and refinanced it to pay for renovations.
Vanessa had designed this room herself.
She had insisted the wardrobe never be moved.
Daniel planted both hands against the carved wood and shoved.
The wardrobe tipped sideways with a brutal crash.
Behind it was a section of wall that didn’t match the rest. The plaster was newer. The baseboard stopped three inches short on each side.
Vanessa whispered, “Daniel, don’t.”
He looked at her.
Not don’t damage the wall.
Not Lily’s upset.
Just don’t.
A contractor’s hammer sat on the workbench beside unopened boxes from the renovation. Daniel grabbed it and swung.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Plaster broke away in slabs.
Underneath was steel.
He dropped the hammer and tore the remaining drywall loose until a narrow metal door appeared, painted matte black, with a recessed handle and an old mechanical latch.
“What is this?”
Vanessa backed toward the hallway.
Daniel reached for the handle.
Then came the sound.
THUD.
Daniel stopped.
THUD.
Lily squeezed the back of his shirt.
THUD.
Three heavy blows from the other side.
Daniel looked at Vanessa.
She had gone gray around the mouth.
He pulled the latch.
The door opened inward less than a foot before something blocked it.
A woman collapsed through the opening.
Daniel caught her before her head hit the floor.
“Claire?”
His younger sister’s hair was damp with sweat. One knee of her black pants was torn, and there were red marks around both wrists where she had pounded on the door.
She had been missing since the previous afternoon.
Daniel had called her six times.
Vanessa had told him Claire was probably angry and “doing one of her disappearing acts.”
Claire sucked in a shaky breath.
“Water.”
Daniel lowered her carefully onto the floor while Lily ran for the bottle on the workbench.
Vanessa moved toward the hallway again.
Claire saw her.
Whatever weakness had been in her face disappeared.
“No.”
Vanessa stopped.
Claire took the water from Lily, drank twice, then looked directly at Daniel.
“Before she leaves,” Claire said, “ask her where Lily’s money went.”
Daniel stared at her.
“What money?”
Claire closed her eyes.
“The trust.”
Daniel’s hand went still around the bottle.
The trust held the life-insurance money Lily’s mother had left behind.
Money Daniel had not touched in four years.
May you like
Claire looked at Vanessa.
Then back at him.
