PART 4
The phone continued ringing in the darkness.
One ring.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Nobody moved.
The sound came from downstairs, but it felt as if it were coming from inside my chest.
Leo was pressed against my side.
Javier stood in front of us.
Elvira was staring toward the staircase like she had just seen a ghost.
Then the ringing stopped.
Silence.
For several seconds, nothing happened.
Then the phone rang again.
This time, the screen downstairs lit up the hallway with a pale blue glow.
Javier whispered, “Stay here.”
I grabbed his arm.
“No.”
“We don’t know who’s downstairs.”
“I don’t care.”
“I do.”
He looked at Leo.
“Our children are still alive. I’m not risking them.”
The words struck me.
Still alive.
He had said it like a prayer.
Like he wasn’t completely sure.
We moved downstairs together.
Elvira followed.
The old house creaked around us.
Every shadow looked like a person.
Every sound made Leo jump.
When we reached the bottom step, the phone stopped ringing.
The screen was still glowing.
Javier reached for it.
I caught his wrist.
“Don’t.”
He looked at me.
“What if it’s Chloe?”
My heart stopped.
He picked it up.
The display showed one word.
DAD.
Javier stared at it.
“My father.”
I felt a chill move through me.
“How is that possible?”
He answered the call.
Neither of us spoke.
At first there was only static.
Then a man’s breathing.
Slow.
Measured.
Then the voice.
“Hello, son.”
Javier nearly dropped the phone.
I knew immediately.
That voice was different from the one Leo had described.
Older.
Raspy.
But there was something familiar about it.
Javier whispered, “Dad?”
The voice laughed softly.
“You should have listened.”
Javier’s face turned white.
“You’re dead.”
“I was supposed to be.”
A pause.
Then:
“Where is the key?”
Elvira stepped backward.
“Don’t tell him.”
The voice changed.
“Still protecting them, Elvira?”
She froze.
Javier looked at her.
“You know him.”
Elvira said nothing.
The voice continued.
“You always were loyal to the wrong people.”
I grabbed the phone.
“Where is my daughter?”
Silence.
Then the voice said:
“Your daughter is safe.”
I almost collapsed from relief.
“For now.”
My fingers tightened around the phone.
“Let me speak to her.”
“You’re not ready.”
“Put her on the phone!”
A small voice suddenly came through.
“Mommy?”
I gasped.
“Chloe!”
“Mommy, I’m okay.”
I could hear her crying.
“Where are you?”
“I don’t know.”
“Look around.”
“I can’t see.”
“Chloe, listen to Mommy. Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Are you alone?”
A pause.
“No.”
My heart stopped again.
“Who is with you?”
I heard Chloe whisper.
“The nice lady.”
“What nice lady?”
Before she could answer, the phone went dead.
I stared at the screen.
“No.”
Javier grabbed my shoulders.
“We’ll find her.”
I turned toward Elvira.
“You knew this would happen.”
She looked down.
“I knew they were watching.”
“You knew my daughter could be taken.”
“I didn’t know when.”
“You could have warned us!”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“By hiding the truth?”
Elvira’s eyes filled with tears.
“There are truths that become weapons once spoken.”
I laughed bitterly.
“My child is missing!”
“I know.”
“You keep saying you know.”
“I know because I already lost someone.”
She looked toward the staircase.
“Arthur.”
Then she whispered:
“He wasn’t taken tonight.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“Arthur disappeared three days ago.”
I stared at her.
“You told us he was sick.”
“He was.”
“What happened?”
“He went looking for your father-in-law.”
Javier stepped forward.
“My father?”
Elvira nodded.
“He knew that man wasn’t dead.”
Javier’s breathing changed.
“You’re saying my father is alive?”
Elvira looked at him.
“No.”
She paused.
“He died once.”
I didn’t understand.
“What does that mean?”
“It means the man on the phone isn’t your father.”
Javier stared.
“Then who is he?”
Elvira whispered:
“His twin.”
The house seemed to go completely silent.
Javier shook his head.
“My father was an only child.”
Elvira looked at me.
“So you were told.”
That sentence opened a door I didn’t know existed.
Javier sat down.
His hands were trembling.
“My whole life…”
“I know.”
“My mother told me…”
“She lied.”
“Why?”
“Because your father asked her to.”
Javier looked up.
“Why would he hide a twin?”
Elvira took a slow breath.
“Because that twin was dangerous.”
She led us into the kitchen.
There was a small cabinet beside the refrigerator.
Elvira unlocked it with a key from around her neck.
Inside was a thick envelope.
Old documents.
Photographs.
Newspaper clippings.
And one black-and-white photograph of two identical boys.
I picked it up.
One wore a white shirt.
The other wore a dark jacket.
They looked exactly alike.
Except for their eyes.
One smiled.
The other looked cold.
Javier touched the photograph.
“Which one is my father?”
Elvira pointed to the smiling boy.
“That’s Javier Senior.”
Then she pointed to the other.
“This is Julian.”
My breath caught.
“J.”
Elvira nodded.
“Yes.”
I looked at the phone.
“The man calling us is Julian.”
Elvira nodded again.
“He’s been using your husband’s name for years.”
Javier’s face twisted with anger.
“Why?”
“Because everyone trusted your father.”
Elvira opened another folder.
Inside were contracts.
Land records.
Court documents.
Bank transfers.
And names.
Dozens of names.
Bellmont Holdings appeared repeatedly.
But then I saw something that made my blood run cold.
Our address.
Our house.
The yellow house.
Several neighboring properties.
Everything.
“This isn’t about buying our land,” I whispered.
“No,” Elvira said.
“They want something underneath it.”
“What?”
“A vault.”
I stared at her.
“What vault?”
“Your grandfather built it before the neighborhood existed.”
Javier looked at her.
“What did he put inside?”
“Records.”
“Records of what?”
“Every illegal transaction Bellmont ever made.”
My mouth went dry.
“You mean evidence?”
“Yes.”
Javier understood first.
“If Bellmont finds it…”
“They can destroy it.”
“And if we find it?”
“They could be destroyed.”
I looked at the old metal key in my hand.
“That opens the vault.”
Elvira shook her head.
“No.”
I frowned.
“Then what does it open?”
“A room.”
“What room?”
She pointed to the floor.
“Under your house.”
I looked at Javier.
“Our basement?”
“You don’t have a basement.”
Elvira smiled sadly.
“That’s the point.”
Suddenly, a loud crash came from outside.
We all jumped.
Then another.
Someone was trying to open the back door.
Javier grabbed a kitchen knife.
Elvira whispered:
“They found us.”
The door shook.
Once.
Twice.
Then the lock snapped.
A dark figure rushed inside.
Javier lunged toward him.
They crashed into the kitchen table.
I screamed.
The man fought with brutal strength.
He wore the same dark coat and baseball cap.
The same man from the SUV.
He threw Javier against the wall.
I grabbed a heavy pan and swung.
It connected with his shoulder.
He stumbled.
Leo ran.
“Leo, get back!”
But the man grabbed him.
“No!”
I lunged forward.
The man pulled Leo against his chest.
Then he removed his cap.
I expected to see a stranger.
Instead, I saw Javier.
Not my Javier.
But a face so similar that my mind refused to accept what my eyes were seeing.
The man smiled.
“Hello.”
Javier stared at him.
“Julian.”
Julian tilted his head.
“So you’ve finally figured it out.”
I stepped between them.
“Where is my daughter?”
Julian smiled.
“Safe.”
“Bring her back.”
“You’ll get her.”
“When?”
“When you open the vault.”
Javier stepped forward.
“Let Leo go.”
Julian tightened his grip.
“You know I can’t.”
“He’s just a child.”
“So is your daughter.”
I felt my stomach turn.
Julian looked directly at me.
“The choice is simple.”
“Take me instead.”
He laughed.
“You think this is about you?”
“What do you want?”
“The key.”
I held it up.
“This?”
His eyes changed.
For the first time, he looked afraid.
“Where did you get that?”
“From Elvira.”
Julian slowly looked at her.
“You gave it to her?”
Elvira stepped forward.
“She deserves the truth.”
Julian’s expression hardened.
“You always did mistake courage for intelligence.”
Then Leo whispered something.
I almost didn’t hear him.
“Mommy.”
I looked at him.
“The key isn’t for the door.”
“What?”
“Grandpa told me.”
Julian suddenly went pale.
“What did he tell you?”
Leo smiled through his tears.
“He said the key is for the clock.”
Julian released him.
For one second, nobody moved.
Leo ran straight into my arms.
Javier grabbed Julian.
They slammed into the wall.
Elvira shouted.
“Take the boy and go!”
I held Leo tightly.
“Where?”
“To your house!”
“But Chloe—”
“She is there!”
“What?”
Elvira pointed toward the yellow house.
“The room beneath it connects to your house.”
I looked at the old key.
“The clock?”
“Yes.”
“What clock?”
Elvira stared at me.
“The grandfather clock in your living room.”
My heart pounded.
We had owned that clock for eleven years.
It had never worked.
We had always thought it was broken.
I looked at Leo.
“How do we open it?”
He whispered:
“Three times left.”
I grabbed his hand.
Javier shouted from behind us.
“Go!”
We ran.
Across the street.
Into our house.
The grandfather clock stood against the wall exactly where it had always been.
Old.
Dusty.
Silent.
I inserted the key.
Nothing.
I turned it once.
Click.
Twice.
Click.
Three times to the left.
The back of the clock opened.
Behind it was a narrow passage.
Black darkness.
Cold air rushed out.
I stared into it.
Somewhere far below, I could hear Chloe crying.
“Mommy!”
I grabbed Leo’s hand.
And stepped inside.
Behind us, the grandfather clock slowly closed.
And from somewhere deep beneath the house, a man’s voice whispered:
“You finally came home.”
PART5
The passage was so narrow that my shoulders brushed both walls.
I held Leo’s hand with one hand and the rusted key with the other.
Javier followed close behind us.
The darkness swallowed the light from the room almost immediately.
There was no electricity.
No windows.
Only a faint current of cold air moving through the tunnel.
“Mommy,” Leo whispered.
“I’m here.”
“I’m scared.”
“So am I.”
He squeezed my hand.
“But we’re together.”
He nodded.
For several seconds, we walked without speaking.
Then I heard something.
A faint metallic sound.
Clink.
Clink.
Clink.
I stopped.
“What is that?”
Javier whispered, “I don’t know.”
The sound came from somewhere ahead.
It sounded like chains moving across concrete.
Leo pulled closer to me.
Then a small light appeared at the end of the passage.
Someone had left a lantern burning.
We approached slowly.
The tunnel opened into a large underground room.
I stopped so suddenly Javier nearly walked into me.
There were photographs covering the walls.
Hundreds of them.
Our house.
Our street.
My parents.
Javier’s parents.
Leo as a baby.
Chloe at her first birthday.
Pictures of us at the grocery store.
At school.
At the park.
On vacations.
Even photographs of us sleeping.
I felt sick.
“They’ve been watching us,” I whispered.
Javier stared at the walls.
“For years.”
In the center of the room was a wooden table.
On it were folders.
Documents.
Newspapers.
And a small cassette recorder.
A red light was blinking.
Javier walked toward it.
“Don’t.”
He stopped.
“Why?”
“Because whoever left that wants us to listen.”
A voice came from behind us.
“She is right.”
We spun around.
A man stood in the doorway.
He was old.
Thin.
His gray hair was combed neatly backward.
He wore a dark suit.
And in his hand was a wooden cane.
Javier froze.
I couldn’t breathe.
Because I recognized him.
Not from life.
From the photograph.
The smiling boy.
Javier’s father.
The man who was supposed to have died three years before Leo was born.
He smiled.
“Hello, son.”
Javier’s lips parted.
“No.”
The old man looked at him sadly.
“I know what your mother told you.”