Chapter 2 - THE KNOCKING UNDER THE HOUSE “GET AWAY FROM THAT DOOR!”
“GET AWAY FROM THAT DOOR!”
Victoire’s scream tore across the courtyard.
Every face turned toward her.
She seemed to realize instantly how much she had revealed.
Evelyn did not blink.
Marcus did not either.
The black jacket around Evelyn’s shoulders was still dripping pool water onto the stone, but the humiliation of five minutes earlier suddenly felt like something that had happened to another woman.
Now there was only the mansion.
And the knocking beneath it.
Marcus moved first.
“Lock the property down.”
Two guards immediately headed toward the entrance.
Victoire grabbed his arm.
“You cannot lock down my house.”
Marcus looked at her hand.
She released him.
Evelyn stepped between them.
“If there’s somebody trapped beneath this house, nobody leaves until we know who it is.”
Camille backed away.
“I’m leaving.”
Evelyn looked at her.
“No.”
Camille’s mouth opened.
“You can’t hold us here.”
“I’m not.”
Evelyn pointed toward the gate.
“The police can decide that.”
That word created panic.
Police.
Several guests reached for their phones.
Others began whispering.
Victoire looked around as control slipped away from her.
“This is insane! She is a waitress!”
Nobody answered.
The word no longer worked.
Evelyn walked toward the mansion.
Marcus followed.
Behind them came two guards.
After several seconds, Camille followed too.
So did Victoire.
The west wing was darker than the rest of the villa.
Evelyn had worked several events there during her three-week undercover job, but staff had always been ordered to avoid one particular hallway.
Victoire had claimed renovations were underway.
There had never been any construction noise.
Now Evelyn understood why.
Marcus stopped beside an antique bookcase.
One of his men was kneeling near the baseboard.
“Here.”
He pressed a hidden switch.
The bookcase moved.
Behind it was a steel door.
Camille covered her mouth.
Victoire said nothing.
Marcus tried the handle.
Locked.
Then they heard it.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Evelyn’s blood turned cold.
“Dad?”
Silence.
Then three more knocks.
Victoire suddenly ran.
Marcus caught her before she reached the hallway.
“Let go of me!”
Evelyn stared at her.
“Where were you going?”
Victoire struggled.
“You have no right!”
Evelyn moved closer.
“Is he down there?”
Victoire stopped fighting.
For one second, something appeared in her eyes.
Guilt.
Then it vanished.
“I don’t know.”
Evelyn’s voice trembled.
“Is my father behind that door?”
“I said I don’t know!”
Marcus ordered one of his men to force the lock.
The first strike cracked the frame.
The second bent the metal.
The third opened it.
Cold air drifted upward.
A narrow staircase descended into darkness.
Evelyn started forward.
Marcus blocked her.
“I go first.”
“My father may be down there.”
“And whoever put him there may be too.”
He descended.
Evelyn followed anyway.
The underground corridor smelled of disinfectant.
That frightened her more than dirt would have.
Someone had been maintaining this place.
At the end of the corridor was another room.
Marcus opened it.
Evelyn stopped breathing.
A hospital bed stood beneath fluorescent lights.
Medical equipment surrounded it.
Oxygen tanks.
Medication.
An IV stand.
And on the bed was an elderly man.
Thin.
Gray.
Alive.
“Dad?”
His eyes opened.
Henri Delacroix looked toward the doorway.
For several seconds, confusion filled his face.
Then he saw Evelyn.
His lips trembled.
“Katherine?”
Evelyn nearly collapsed.
“No.”
She crossed the room.
“It’s Evelyn.”
Henri stared at her.
His eyes filled with tears.
“My little girl.”
Those three words destroyed every wall Evelyn had built around herself.
She knelt beside the bed.
Henri lifted a trembling hand.
She took it.
He was frighteningly weak.
But alive.
Behind them, Victoire appeared at the doorway.
Henri saw her.
Fear replaced tenderness.
His fingers tightened around Evelyn’s hand.
“Don’t…”
Evelyn leaned closer.
“What?”
Henri struggled to speak.
“Don’t trust…”
Victoire stepped forward.
“Dad.”
Henri recoiled.
That was enough.
Marcus immediately positioned himself between them.
Victoire began crying.
“He’s confused!”
Henri shook his head.
“No.”
“You were sick!”
“No.”
“I was protecting you!”
Henri’s breathing accelerated.
A medical alarm began beeping.
Evelyn turned toward Victoire.
“What did you do to him?”
“Nothing!”
“What did you do?”
“I kept him alive!”
Henri whispered something.
Evelyn bent closer.
“What?”
His lips barely moved.
“Ledger.”
“What ledger?”
Henri looked toward the wall.
Then his eyes closed.
The monitor continued beeping.
“Dad?”
Marcus called for the medical team.
Evelyn held Henri’s hand while paramedics rushed downstairs.
As they worked, Evelyn stood slowly.
She looked at Victoire.
Victoire’s mascara had begun running.
For the first time, she no longer resembled the glamorous woman beside the swimming pool.
She looked cornered.
Evelyn stepped toward her.
“What ledger?”
Victoire said nothing.
Evelyn repeated the question.
“What ledger?”
“I don’t know.”
Henri was carried upstairs.
Police sirens approached outside.
Evelyn watched Victoire carefully.
The pool incident had seemed cruel.
Now it seemed insignificant.
Someone had hidden Henri beneath his own house.
Someone had convinced the world he was overseas.
Someone had controlled his company while he disappeared.
And Evelyn suspected the woman who pushed her into the pool had been terrified long before she ever touched her.
She just hadn’t known Evelyn was watching.
Evelyn leaned closer.
“You pushed the wrong waitress tonight.”
Victoire’s expression changed.
A strange smile appeared.
Small.
Cold.
Almost relieved.
“No,” she whispered.
Evelyn frowned.
May you like
Victoire looked toward the staircase.
“I pushed exactly the right one.”
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