Chapter 3 - THE HOUSEKEEPER WHO NEVER LEFT
Rosa appeared at the far end of the hallway.
Her hair was gray.
A scar crossed the left side of her face.
She leaned on a metal cane.
Arthur gripped the doorway.
“Rosa.”
Margaret stepped backward.
“You are supposed to be dead.”
Rosa’s eyes moved toward her.
“That was the plan.”
Adrian looked between them.
“What is happening?”
Rosa entered the dining room.
She wore a dark coat covered with dust.
A ring of old keys hung from her belt.
“I have been living inside the west service wing.”
Adrian stared at her.
“That wing was sealed before I was born.”
“Not all of it.”
Rosa looked at Claire.
“You have your mother’s eyes.”
Claire’s throat tightened.
“You knew her.”
“I loved her.”
“Where is she?”
Rosa closed her eyes briefly.
“I do not know if she is still alive.”
Claire moved closer.
“Arthur said she was kept beneath the mansion.”
“For three nights.”
“Then Margaret moved her.”
Margaret recovered enough to speak.
“This woman is unstable.”
“She stole from us.”
Rosa laughed.
“You used the same sentence for Evelyn.”
Adrian reached for the telephone on the sideboard.
The line was dead.
Police sirens were faintly audible outside the property gates.
The lockdown prevented them from entering.
Agent Ruiz remained on Claire’s phone.
She had heard everything.
“Rosa,” Claire said.
“The federal investigator can hear you.”
“Good.”
Rosa removed a small device from her pocket.
She pressed a button.
The security shutters began opening.
Margaret lunged toward her.
Arthur caught Margaret’s arm.
Everyone froze.
It was the first time Claire had ever seen Arthur oppose his wife physically.
“Enough,” he said.
Margaret pulled away.
“You weak old man.”
Arthur looked at the broken porcelain near Claire’s feet.
“I was weak when Evelyn needed me.”
“I will not be weak again.”
Adrian stepped between his parents.
“You are both speaking as though my wife’s mother was imprisoned here.”
Rosa looked at him.
“She was.”
“By whom?”
Rosa’s gaze shifted toward Margaret.
“Your mother ordered it.”
Margaret’s face remained still.
“And your father allowed it.”
Adrian turned toward Arthur.
He expected denial.
Arthur gave none.
Claire felt rage rise through her pain.
“You both knew.”
Arthur’s eyes filled with tears.
“I believed Margaret would release her after the documents were signed.”
“What documents?”
“Evelyn’s claim to the mansion.”
“Her shares in Whitmore Maritime.”
“And guardianship of you.”
Claire’s breathing stopped.
“My mother signed away custody?”
“No.”
Arthur looked toward the hidden room.
“That is why they kept her.”
The sound of engines grew louder outside.
Police vehicles reached the gates.
Rosa pressed another control.
The main doors unlocked.
Before anyone entered, a gunshot echoed from the second floor.
Rosa collapsed.
A dark stain spread across her coat.
Someone stood behind the upper railing.
May you like
Claire looked up.
Adrian’s younger brother, Nicholas Whitmore, aimed a rifle toward the dining room.
