Chapter 3 - The House Goes DarkSophie gasped.
Adrian immediately reached for her hand.
“I’m right here.”
His phone flashlight illuminated the security room.
The red door had locked behind them.
Adrian moved to the control panel.
No power.
Someone had intentionally shut down the system.
He tried the silver key from inside.
The lock would not turn.
The old mechanism only worked from the basement side.
“Are we stuck?”
Sophie whispered the question.
“For a minute.”
Adrian kept his tone steady.
He refused to let fear enter his voice.
He searched the room for another exit.
The security monitors were dead.
The ventilation system had also stopped.
That meant whoever controlled the hidden section could cut everything remotely.
Adrian opened a storage cabinet.
Inside were flashlights, batteries, bottled water, first-aid supplies, and two emergency radios.
This was not just a secret office.
It had been designed to operate during a crisis.
He turned on one radio.
Static.
Then a voice broke through.
“Mr. Blackwood?”
Adrian froze.
The voice belonged to Daniel Reyes, his head of security.
“Daniel?”
“Where are you?”
“Basement.”
Daniel cursed quietly.
“The house system just went offline.”
“Where’s Thomas?”
“He left through the east gate ten minutes ago.”
“Follow him.”
“I already sent a vehicle.”
Daniel paused.
“Sir, there’s something else.”
Adrian looked at Sophie.
“Tell me.”
“Thomas wasn’t alone.”
“Who was with him?”
“I couldn’t see clearly.”
A burst of static interrupted them.
Then Daniel returned.
“But the passenger was a woman.”
Adrian’s mind raced.
Claire was being held elsewhere.
So who had left with Thomas?
He looked again at the photograph of Eleanor and Margaret Carter.
“Daniel, get Sophie’s room ready.”
“Why?”
“We’re getting out of the basement.”
Adrian switched channels.
He searched the walls.
Old Blackwood properties usually contained redundant passages.
His father believed every room needed two exits.
Adrian had mocked that obsession when he was younger.
Now he was grateful for it.
Sophie tugged his sleeve.
“My bunny is making a noise.”
Adrian looked down.
The stuffed rabbit was silent.
Then he heard it.
A faint electronic chirping.
He took the bunny carefully.
The sound came from inside its fabric.
Adrian found a stitched seam beneath one ear.
He opened it with the small blade on his keychain.
Inside was a tiny tracking device.
His expression hardened.
“Did Mommy put this in your bunny?”
Sophie shook her head.
“No.”
“Who gave you the bunny?”
“Mr. Vale.”
Adrian removed the tracker.
Thomas had been monitoring Sophie.
Maybe the device had allowed him to know exactly when she entered the basement.
Adrian crushed it beneath his shoe.
Then the emergency radio crackled again.
Daniel’s voice returned.
“We found Thomas’s car.”
“Where?”
“Two miles from the property.”
“Thomas?”
“Gone.”
“And the woman?”
“Gone too.”
Adrian closed his eyes briefly.
Thomas had anticipated the pursuit.
“Any cameras nearby?”
“We’re checking.”
Adrian searched behind the monitor station.
One wall sounded hollow when he struck it.
He moved a filing cabinet.
Behind it was a narrow steel panel.
A recessed handle appeared.
He pulled.
A hidden emergency tunnel opened.
Sophie looked at the darkness.
“Do we have to go in there?”
“Yes.”
She tightened her grip on his hand.
“Okay.”
They entered.
The passage was narrow and dusty.
Unlike the renovated corridor, this section was decades old.
Adrian recognized the construction.
His father had shown him similar tunnels beneath another family property.
As they walked, Sophie spoke softly.
“Mr. Adrian?”
“Yes?”
“Is Mommy mad at me?”
He stopped.
“Why would she be mad?”
“Because I told you about downstairs.”
Adrian crouched.
“Sophie, your mom wanted you to tell me.”
“But Mr. Vale said she would get in trouble.”
Adrian felt anger rise again.
“Mr. Vale lied.”
Sophie watched him carefully.
“Why?”
“Because sometimes people lie when they’re afraid the truth will come out.”
She seemed to consider that.
“Are you afraid?”
Adrian looked into her blue eyes.
“Yes.”
Sophie looked surprised.
He continued.
“But being afraid doesn’t mean we stop.”
She nodded.
Then she offered him the bunny.
“You can hold him if you want.”
Despite everything, Adrian almost smiled.
“I think you should keep him.”
They continued through the tunnel.
After several minutes, Adrian saw light ahead.
He pushed open a wooden panel.
They emerged inside the old library.
Daniel Reyes was waiting with two security officers.
He immediately approached.
“You okay?”
Adrian nodded.
“Lock the entire property down.”
Daniel looked toward Sophie.
“Take her upstairs?”
“No.”
Adrian’s answer came instantly.
Claire had warned him Sophie could not stay at Blackwood Manor.
He trusted that warning.
“We leave now.”
Daniel’s expression changed.
“Where?”
“My city residence.”
“That location is known.”
Adrian thought.
“You’re right.”
He looked around the library.
There was one place Thomas would not expect.
“My mother’s cottage.”
Daniel blinked.
“The abandoned place near Lake Warren?”
“Nobody’s been there in twenty years.”
“Exactly.”
Adrian gathered the photographs and documents from the hidden room.
He placed them inside a leather archive case.
Then he noticed something.
One page from the BLACKWOOD CONTINGENCY folder listed seven names.
Thomas Vale.
Margaret Carter.
Vincent Blackwood.
Eleanor Blackwood.
Claire Carter.
Adrian Blackwood.
And one final name.
Marcus Blackwood.
Adrian stared at it.
His uncle Marcus had supposedly died in a boating accident eighteen years earlier.
The same year Claire’s father vanished.
Adrian turned the page over.
There was a handwritten note.
THE DEAD ARE NOT ALWAYS DEAD.
Daniel approached.
“What is it?”
Adrian showed him.
Daniel frowned.
“I thought Marcus Blackwood died.”
“So did I.”
A security officer entered the library.
“Sir.”
Adrian looked up.
“We have someone at the front gate.”
“Who?”
The officer looked uncertain.
“She says her name is Margaret Carter.”
Adrian slowly turned toward Sophie.
Sophie’s eyes widened.
“That’s Grandma.”
Adrian looked back at the officer.
“Claire told me Margaret was dead.”
The officer swallowed.
“She’s very much alive.”
Adrian walked toward the front entrance.
A woman stood beyond the locked gates.
She was in her late sixties.
Gray hair moved in the rain.
Her face looked exhausted.
But Adrian recognized her immediately from the photographs.
Margaret Carter.
She stared through the gates at him.
Then she raised both hands.
In one hand was an old photograph.
In the other was a pistol.
Adrian’s security team immediately reacted.
Margaret dropped the weapon onto the ground.
“I’m not here to hurt anyone.”
Adrian approached carefully.
“Why should I believe you?”
Margaret’s eyes moved toward Sophie.
Tears appeared instantly.
“My granddaughter is in that house.”
Adrian stood between her and Sophie.
“Claire told me you were dead.”
Margaret nodded.
“She had to.”
“Why?”
Margaret looked toward the mansion.
“Because the man who killed your mother thinks I died with her secret.”
Adrian felt the world narrow around him.
“My mother died in an accident.”
Margaret met his eyes.
“No, Adrian.”
May you like
Her voice was barely above a whisper.
“Your mother was murdered.”
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