Chapter 10 - The Flood Chamber
Water rushed beneath the steel grating.
Adrian grabbed a railing.
Marcus stumbled against the wall.
The chamber floor was lowering.
“What is this?”
Adrian shouted.
Marcus looked below.
“Flood system.”
The chamber descended toward the lake water.
Vincent’s voice came through the speakers.
“You always did learn best under pressure.”
Adrian looked up at the camera.
“You want me dead?”
“No.”
“I want you cooperative.”
Water reached the bottom platform.
Cold spray rose around them.
Marcus searched the wall.
“There’s an emergency release.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
Adrian laughed bitterly.
“You designed a secret underwater vault and forgot the emergency exit?”
“I didn’t design this version.”
Water began entering through vents.
Adrian’s radio crackled.
Daniel.
“Adrian?”
“I’m here.”
“Your signal is weak.”
“We’re below the boathouse.”
Daniel’s voice became urgent.
“We can breach.”
“No.”
Marcus interrupted.
“The vault may trigger if they force the outer door.”
Daniel heard him.
“Who is that?”
“Marcus.”
A pause.
“The dead uncle?”
“Long story.”
Water reached Adrian’s ankles.
Daniel said, “Give me two minutes.”
“We may not have two.”
Sophie’s voice suddenly came through the radio.
“Mr. Adrian?”
Adrian froze.
“Sophie?”
Margaret spoke behind her.
“She grabbed the radio.”
Adrian forced his voice calm.
“Sophie, I’m okay.”
“Did you find Mommy?”
“Not yet.”
“I remembered something.”
Water reached his knees.
Adrian looked at Marcus.
“What?”
“Mommy said the bird likes the moon.”
Adrian frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“She told me when we came here last summer.”
Adrian remembered.
Claire had brought Sophie to the lake cottage for a weekend while organizing Eleanor’s old books.
“The bird likes the moon.”
Marcus looked around the chamber.
A blackbird symbol was engraved on the vault door.
Above it was a circular metal plate.
A moon.
Adrian moved through the water.
He pressed the moon symbol.
Nothing.
Sophie continued.
“She said you have to make the moon sleep.”
Adrian stared.
Marcus understood first.
“Turn it.”
Adrian gripped the circular plate.
It rotated.
A hidden handle appeared.
He pulled.
A maintenance hatch opened in the wall.
Marcus laughed in disbelief.
“Rachel built children’s riddles into the security system.”
Adrian climbed through.
“Smartest person in this family.”
They entered a narrow service tunnel.
Daniel’s voice returned.
“You out?”
“Yes.”
“Where does the tunnel lead?”
Marcus looked ahead.
“Probably the shoreline.”
They crawled quickly.
Behind them, the chamber filled with water.
After several minutes, Adrian pushed open an exterior grate.
They emerged behind the boathouse.
Daniel met them.
“You look terrible.”
Adrian glanced at his soaked suit.
“I’ve had better evenings.”
Sophie ran from the cottage porch.
Margaret followed.
Adrian crouched and hugged her.
“You remembered the moon.”
She smiled.
“Mommy taught me.”
Adrian looked at the child differently.
Claire had been preparing Sophie for emergencies.
Not frightening her.
Teaching her.
That meant Claire knew the danger had been growing for months.
Margaret approached.
“Where is Claire?”
“We lost the feed.”
Marcus emerged behind Adrian.
Margaret saw him and immediately stiffened.
Daniel’s officers secured the area.
For the first time all night, they had a few minutes without an immediate attack.
Adrian used them.
“Everyone inside.”
They gathered around the cottage table.
Adrian placed Eleanor’s letter beside Rachel’s archive box.
“We stop reacting.”
Marcus raised an eyebrow.
“And do what?”
“Figure out what Vincent wants.”
“The archive.”
“No.”
Adrian shook his head.
“He’s had years to collect information.”
“He doesn’t need old files.”
Thomas’s earlier words returned to him.
He needs a Blackwood heir to open the last vault.
Claire had revealed a third authorization from Rachel’s bloodline.
Adrian looked at Margaret.
“Claire can open the vault.”
Margaret nodded slowly.
“Yes.”
“Vincent needs me, Marcus, and Claire.”
Marcus frowned.
“That explains why he kept us alive.”
Daniel added.
“And why he took Claire.”
Adrian looked toward the lake.
“He’ll try again.”
A phone rang.
Not Adrian’s.
Sophie looked at her bunny.
Everyone froze.
The sound came from inside the toy.
Adrian opened the seam again.
A tiny phone was hidden deep inside the stuffing.
It had been there the entire time.
The screen displayed one incoming call.
MOMMY.
Sophie reached toward it.
Adrian answered first.
“Claire?”
Her voice came through quietly.
“Adrian.”
“Where are you?”
“In a car.”
“With who?”
“Thomas.”
Adrian looked at the others.
“Is he holding you?”
“No.”
Thomas’s voice came faintly in the background.
“We’re coming to you.”
Adrian’s expression hardened.
“Why should I let him near Sophie?”
Claire answered.
“Because Thomas didn’t take me.”
“Then who did?”
A pause.
“Vincent.”
Adrian looked at Marcus.
Claire continued.
“Thomas helped me escape ten minutes ago.”
“Where’s Vincent?”
“I don’t know.”
“Claire, what’s the real reason he needs the vault?”
Silence.
Then Claire said something that changed the entire room.
“He isn’t trying to open it.”
Adrian frowned.
“What?”
“He’s trying to destroy it.”
“Why?”
Claire’s voice became almost a whisper.
“Because Rachel Carter is still alive.”
Margaret dropped into a chair.
Adrian tightened his grip on the phone.
May you like
Claire continued.
“And she knows exactly who killed your mother.”
