Chapter 5: The Empty Bedroom
“Daddy! Ethan’s gone!””
Caleb’s scream came from upstairs.
I dropped the photograph.
For one second, I couldn't understand the words.
Then I ran.
I took the stairs three at a time.
“Ethan!””
Caleb was standing in the hallway outside the boys’ bedroom, barefoot and shaking.
His blanket was wrapped around his shoulders.
“Where is he?””
Caleb pointed toward the open bedroom door.
“I woke up and he wasn't there!””
I rushed inside.
Ethan’s bed was empty.
The blankets had been thrown aside.
The window was locked.
The closet door was open.
I checked behind it anyway.
Nothing.
“Ethan!””
No answer.
I turned toward the hallway.
“Vivian!””
She was still downstairs.
She looked up at me.
“What?””
“Where is Ethan?””
Her expression changed.
“What do you mean?””
“He's gone.””
She came up the stairs quickly.
“That's impossible.””
Caleb grabbed her sleeve.
“Mama, Ethan disappeared!””
Vivian pulled him closer.
“Don't worry, sweetheart.””
I looked at her.
“Where were you?””
“In the foyer.””
“With the police.””
“Yes.””
“You weren't upstairs?””
“No.””
I stared at the bedroom.
“Then who was?””
Vivian said nothing.
One of the officers appeared at the top of the stairs.
“Sir?””
“My son is missing.””
The officer immediately spoke into his radio.
“Possible child abduction. Six-year-old male. Indoor search and perimeter lockdown.””
I dropped to my knees beside Ethan’s bed.
His stuffed rabbit was gone.
So was the small blue flashlight he kept under his pillow.
I touched the mattress.
Still warm.
He hadn't been gone long.
Then I noticed something on the floor.
A tiny piece of white paper.
I picked it up.
Three words were written in blue ink.
*FOLLOW THE STAR.*
Caleb leaned over.
“What does it say?””
I folded the paper into my fist.
“Nothing.””
Vivian saw it.
Her face went pale.
“You know what that means,” I said.
She shook her head.
“No.””
“Don't lie to me.””
“I don't know anything.””
“Then why are you scared?””
She looked away.
I stepped closer.
“Where would Ethan go?””
“I don't know.””
“What's the star?””
“I said I don't know.””
One officer interrupted.
“Sir, we're checking every room.””
Another officer ran toward the stairs.
I suddenly remembered the hidden passage.
The secret room.
The concealed staircase.
My heart slammed against my ribs.
I ran to Vivian's dressing room.
She followed.
“Alex, stop!””
I tore the dresses aside.
The hidden panel stood slightly open.
It hadn't been closed correctly.
I pulled it wide.
The staircase was dark.
“Ethan!””
Silence.
I switched on my phone flashlight.
On the first step was Ethan's blue flashlight.
I picked it up.
The batteries were still on.
The beam pointed downward.
Vivian stood behind me.
“No.””
I turned.
“What?””
“Don't go down there.””
That was the first time she had ever sounded genuinely terrified.
“Why?””
She said nothing.
I stepped onto the staircase.
“Alex, please.””
I kept going.
The narrow passage twisted behind the walls.
At the bottom, the secret room was exactly as we'd left it.
Except the computer was on.
A single document filled the screen.
I approached it.
There was one sentence.
*HE KNOWS WHERE SHE IS.*
I looked around.
“Ethan?””
A faint sound came from behind the wall.
Three knocks.
I froze.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
“Ethan!””
I ran toward the sound.
The wall beside the desk had a second concealed latch.
I pressed it.
Nothing.
I pushed harder.
The panel opened inward.
Behind it was another passage.
And at the end—
A tiny figure.
“Ethan!””
He was sitting on the floor with his knees pulled to his chest.
I rushed to him.
He threw himself into my arms.
“Daddy!””
“I've got you.””
He was trembling violently.
“Are you hurt?””
He shook his head.
“Who brought you here?””
Ethan buried his face against my chest.
“Who brought you here?””
His voice came out broken.
“A lady.””
My heart stopped.
“What lady?””
He looked toward the passage.
“The lady from the picture.””
I picked him up.
“Did she hurt you?””
“No.””
“What did she say?””
Ethan looked at me.
“She said you had to know the truth.””
Vivian suddenly appeared behind us.
Her face changed when she saw Ethan.
“Oh, thank God.””
She rushed toward him.
I stepped back.
“Don't touch him.””
She stopped.
“He's my son.””
“He's terrified of you.””
Her eyes filled with tears.
“You think I wanted any of this?””
I held Ethan tighter.
“Who is the woman?””
Vivian didn't answer.
“Who is she?””
“She shouldn't have come back.””
“Who?””
“She promised.””
“Promised what?””
Vivian covered her mouth.
The officers entered the passage.
One of them looked at Vivian.
“Mrs. Hale, we need an explanation.””
She shook her head.
“I can't.””
I stared at her.
“You can.””
“No.””
“Then I'll find out without you.””
She looked at me with desperation.
“You don't understand what she is capable of.””
I laughed bitterly.
“She kidnapped our son.””
“No,” Vivian said.
Her voice cracked.
“She saved him.””
I stared at her.
“What?””
Vivian wiped tears from her face.
“She knew someone was coming.””
“Who?””
Vivian looked at Ethan.
Then at me.
“Marcus.””
I felt sick.
“Marcus Vale?””
She nodded.
“He isn't just after money.””
The officer raised his radio.
“We need to locate this Marcus Vale immediately.””
Vivian shook her head.
“You won't find him.””
“Why?””
“Because he's already inside your world.””
She looked directly at me.
“You've been trusting him for years.””
I couldn't speak.
“That's impossible.””
Vivian took a breath.
“Think about the people who have access to your clinics.””
I did.
Executives.
Accountants.
Legal counsel.
Security contractors.
Board members.
Doctors.
Then one name surfaced.
A man I had worked beside for nearly a decade.
My chief financial officer.
Thomas Reed.
I felt a cold wave pass over me.
Thomas had access to almost everything.
My companies.
My accounts.
My private records.
And three months earlier, he'd insisted on replacing several security systems across my properties.
Including our home.
I looked at Vivian.
“Thomas?””
She didn't answer.
“Is Thomas working for Marcus?””
Her silence was enough.
I turned to the officer.
“Call my security director.””
The officer shook his head.
“He isn't answering.””
I froze.
“What?””
“We've been trying to reach him since we arrived.””
My phone buzzed.
An unknown number.
A message.
*You found Ethan. Good. Now find your mother.*
A second message arrived.
*The woman with the star knows where she was taken.*
Then a third.
A photograph.
This one showed a little girl sitting on a wooden bench beside a hospital window.
At first I didn't understand.
Then I saw the bracelet.
The exact bracelet from my mother's photograph.
My knees almost gave out.
The image had been taken recently.
Very recently.
On the back wall of the photograph was a hospital name.
*St. Vincent's Behavioral Center.*
I recognized it immediately.
My hospital network had acquired the building two years ago.
I stared at the photograph.
“My mother…”
Vivian whispered, “She's there.””
“Alive?””
Vivian nodded.
“She's been alive all these years.””
“Why didn't you tell me?””
Her face collapsed.
“Because I was protecting you.””
“From what?””
“From the truth.””
I stepped toward her.
“What truth?””
She looked at Ethan.
Then at Caleb.
Then back at me.
“Your mother didn't disappear after the accident.””
“What accident?””
Vivian's voice dropped.
“The night everyone told you she died…”
She swallowed.
“She wasn't the victim.””
The air seemed to leave the room.
“What are you talking about?””
Vivian's eyes filled with tears.
“Your mother was the one who tried to kill Marcus Vale.””
I stared at her.
“No.””
“She knew what he was doing.””
“No.””
“She found out about the accounts. The shell companies. The people he was paying.””
I shook my head.
“You're lying.””
“She confronted him.””
“Why didn't she tell me?””
“Because you were already involved.””
My blood ran cold.
“Involved in what?””
Vivian looked at me.
“You signed something that night.””
I couldn't breathe.
“What?””
“A medical transfer.””
I remembered nothing.
“You were drugged after the accident,” Vivian whispered.
“Marcus made sure you didn't remember.””
The hidden room went silent.
Then Caleb began crying.
“Daddy?””
I turned toward him.
He was holding something.
A small envelope.
“What's that?””
Caleb looked frightened.
“I found it under Ethan's pillow.””
I took it from him.
My name was written across the front.
*ALEX.*
I opened it.
Inside was a single photograph.
My mother.
Alive.
Older.
Sitting in a hospital bed.
And standing beside her was the woman from the hidden room.
The woman whose face had been blacked out in Vivian's photograph.
Only now, her face was visible.
I knew her.
She had been at my wedding.
She had held Vivian's hand.
She had kissed my mother's cheek at the hospital eight years ago.
My hands began to shake.
Because the woman I'd been told was a stranger wasn't a stranger at all.
May you like
She was my mother's daughter.
And I had never known I had a sister.
