Chapter 2 - The Doors Were Locked
For several seconds, nobody moved.
The question seemed to remain suspended beneath the chandeliers.
“How many children are inside my house?”
Vanessa stared at Richard.
Marcus looked at the floor.
Hannah tightened her arms around Ethan.
Richard stepped toward Marcus.
“Where is Olivia?”
Marcus’s jaw trembled.
“I don’t know.”
“You just said Vanessa has her.”
“I said she has Olivia.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
Richard grabbed the front of Marcus’s jacket.
Security officers moved instinctively.
Then stopped when they realized their employer was the one holding their chief.
“You led the search for my son.”
Marcus did not resist.
“Yes.”
“You told me he was dead.”
“Yes.”
“Was he inside this house the entire time?”
Marcus closed his eyes.
“Almost.”
Richard shoved him away.
“Almost?”
Marcus caught himself against a chair.
Vanessa spoke.
“Richard, you are creating a spectacle.”
Richard turned.
“My dead son just crawled out of my ballroom wall.”
Vanessa flinched.
“I think the spectacle has already begun.”
Several guests stepped farther away from her.
Vanessa noticed.
She lifted her chin.
“You are all witnessing a private family crisis.”
A woman near the orchestra laughed in disbelief.
“Private?”
Vanessa glared at her.
Richard raised one hand.
“Everyone stays.”
Vanessa stared at him.
“You cannot imprison your guests.”
“No one is imprisoned.”
Richard looked toward the doors.
“But nobody leaves until the police arrive.”
That changed Vanessa’s expression.
“No police.”
Richard studied her.
“Why?”
“Because this can be handled internally.”
“My son was hidden inside a wall.”
“I know what it looks like.”
“What does it look like?”
Vanessa had no answer.
Richard pressed playback again.
The recorder crackled.
Marcus’s voice came through.
“The sedative is wearing off.”
Hannah felt sick.
Then Vanessa’s voice.
“Give him another half dose.”
Marcus replied.
“He’s two.”
Vanessa answered.
“And difficult.”
Richard stopped the recording.
The silence that followed was worse.
Hannah looked down at Ethan.
His eyes were open.
He was listening.
She quickly covered one of his ears against her shoulder.
Richard looked toward the family physician.
Dr. Lionel Graves had been standing near a side table since the wall broke open.
He had barely moved.
Now Richard pointed directly at him.
“Examine Ethan.”
Dr. Graves hesitated.
“Immediately.”
The physician approached.
Ethan buried his face against Hannah.
“No doctor.”
Hannah whispered.
“It’s all right.”
Ethan shook his head.
“Needle doctor.”
Dr. Graves stopped.
Richard looked at him.
“What does that mean?”
Graves looked confused.
“I don’t know.”
Ethan pointed at him.
“Needle doctor.”
Every eye in the ballroom moved toward Graves.
The physician raised both hands.
“Richard, I have never harmed your son.”
Ethan began trembling.
“No needle.”
Hannah stepped backward.
Richard moved between Graves and his child.
“When was the last time you treated Ethan?”
“The morning before the accident.”
“What did you give him?”
“Nothing.”
Ethan whimpered.
Richard heard it.
“What did you give him?”
“Vitamins.”
“You used a needle for vitamins?”
Graves’s face tightened.
“There was an injection.”
“For what?”
“A mild antihistamine.”
“Why?”
“He had a rash.”
Hannah spoke.
“He did not have a rash.”
Everyone looked at her.
Graves frowned.
“You are not his doctor.”
“No.”
Hannah held Ethan closer.
“But I changed his clothes that morning.”
Graves said nothing.
“There was no rash.”
Vanessa stepped in.
“He had one under his shirt.”
Hannah looked at her.
“No, he didn’t.”
Vanessa’s eyes became hard.
“You were a maid.”
“Yes.”
“You cleaned rooms.”
“Yes.”
“You did not make medical decisions.”
“No.”
Hannah turned toward Richard.
“But I was with Ethan from six in the morning until almost eleven.”
Richard listened.
“His nanny had called in sick.”
Vanessa interrupted.
“She was dismissed.”
“That is not what Mrs. Bell told me.”
Vanessa’s head snapped toward Hannah.
Richard caught the reaction.
“Who is Mrs. Bell?”
“Ethan’s nanny.”
Richard frowned.
“Claire?”
Hannah nodded.
“She told me she had a fever.”
Vanessa said sharply.
“She lied.”
Hannah continued.
“She also said Mrs. Sterling told her not to return.”
Richard looked toward Vanessa.
“Why did you fire Claire?”
“She was careless.”
“With what?”
“With Ethan.”
“Specifics.”
Vanessa folded her arms.
“I do not have to justify every staffing decision.”
Richard turned toward Marcus.
“Where is Claire Bell?”
Marcus looked at Vanessa.
Richard stepped in front of him.
“Stop looking at my wife before answering.”
Marcus swallowed.
“I don’t know.”
Richard almost laughed.
“You are my security chief.”
“I was.”
“What does that mean?”
Marcus looked toward the locked ballroom doors.
“It means the moment she realizes I have spoken, I am finished.”
Richard pointed at Ethan.
“My son was buried alive inside my house.”
Marcus looked at the child.
Shame crossed his face.
Then he said quietly.
“No.”
Richard went still.
“No what?”
“He wasn’t buried alive.”
“What do you call it?”
“A holding room.”
Hannah stared at him.
Marcus immediately regretted the words.
Richard took one step closer.
“A what?”
Marcus said nothing.
Richard’s voice rose.
“A holding room?”
“It existed before Ethan.”
Hannah felt cold.
Richard did not move.
“How long before Ethan?”
Marcus looked toward the west wall.
“That passage system is older than this house looks.”
Richard shook his head.
“My grandfather rebuilt this wing.”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“He built more than a ballroom.”
Marcus wiped sweat from his forehead.
“There are rooms between the public rooms.”
“What rooms?”
“Observation spaces.”
“For what?”
Marcus looked uncomfortable.
“Listening.”
The guests began whispering.
Richard’s expression hardened.
“My grandfather built hidden rooms to spy on people?”
Marcus nodded.
“The Sterlings used them during negotiations.”
Richard looked toward the broken wall.
“And my wife turned one into a cell.”
Vanessa stepped forward.
“I did not build it.”
Richard turned on her.
“You put my son inside it.”
“You don’t know that.”
Ethan raised his head.
“Mommy wall.”
Richard closed his eyes for one second.
Vanessa’s expression flickered.
Then she smiled.
It was small.
Cold.
Unexpected.
“Fine.”
Richard opened his eyes.
Vanessa looked around the ballroom.
“Everyone wants a confession.”
Nobody spoke.
“You want me to say I placed Ethan there.”
She looked at Richard.
“You want me to say I lied about his death.”
She looked at Hannah.
“You want me to say I am some kind of monster.”
Hannah did not blink.
Vanessa’s smile disappeared.
“But before all of you decide what happened, perhaps you should ask Richard why Ethan was hidden in the first place.”
Richard stared at her.
“What are you talking about?”
Vanessa looked toward Ethan.
The child immediately pressed against Hannah.
Richard saw it.
“Do not use him.”
“I’m not.”
“You are terrifying him.”
“He was already terrified.”
“Because of you.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“Because of what he heard.”
Richard’s anger paused.
“What did he hear?”
Vanessa looked at Marcus.
Marcus’s face changed.
“Don’t.”
Vanessa ignored him.
“Five nights ago, Ethan wandered into the library.”
Richard waited.
“He heard a conversation.”
“What conversation?”
Vanessa smiled without warmth.
“One that could destroy Sterling Global.”
Richard stared at her.
“Between whom?”
“You really don’t know?”
“No.”
Vanessa’s eyes shifted toward the guests.
Several Sterling Global board members were present.
So were two major shareholders.
One of them, eighty-one-year-old Charles Wexler, quietly stepped away from the crowd.
Hannah noticed him.
Vanessa did too.
Richard followed her gaze.
“Charles?”
Wexler froze.
Richard frowned.
“What does Charles have to do with this?”
Wexler adjusted his glasses.
“Nothing.”
Vanessa laughed.
The sound was almost cheerful.
“Tell him.”
Wexler looked toward the doors.
Richard stepped between him and the exit.
“Tell me what?”
The old man lowered his voice.
“There was a meeting.”
“What meeting?”
“Five nights ago.”
“In my library?”
“Yes.”
“Who attended?”
Wexler hesitated.
Vanessa answered for him.
“Charles.”
“Marcus.”
“Dr. Graves.”
“And me.”
Richard’s gaze moved from face to face.
Four people.
All standing inside his ballroom.
All connected to Ethan.
Richard’s voice hardened.
“What were you discussing?”
Nobody answered.
Ethan suddenly spoke against Hannah’s shoulder.
“Daddy gone.”
Richard looked at him.
“What?”
Ethan pointed toward the recorder.
“Daddy gone.”
Richard slowly pressed playback.
Static.
Then the recording resumed.
A chair moved.
Someone poured a drink.
Charles Wexler’s voice emerged.
“Once the vote is complete, Richard loses control of the company.”
Richard’s face became still.
Dr. Graves replied.
“And if he fights?”
Vanessa answered.
“He won’t be in a position to fight.”
Marcus’s voice came next.
“You promised nobody gets hurt.”
Vanessa laughed softly.
Then a fifth voice spoke.
Not Vanessa.
Not Marcus.
Not Graves.
Not Wexler.
A man.
Calm.
Educated.
Familiar.
Richard’s mouth opened slightly.
The speaker said.
“Richard Sterling will be dead before the board ever realizes there was a coup.”
The recording stopped.
Richard stared at the device.
His face had become almost expressionless.
Hannah whispered.
“Who was that?”
Richard did not answer.
He looked toward the far end of the ballroom.
Toward a man who had been standing silently beside the curtains since Hannah broke through the wall.
Richard’s younger brother, Julian Sterling.
Julian slowly placed his champagne glass on a table.
Then he smiled.
May you like
“Now,” Julian said, “we can finally stop pretending this is only about Ethan.”
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