Chapter 4 - The Secret Beneath Crosswell House
Ren’s room had remained locked for one year.
Nobody entered.
Not housekeepers.
Not security.
Not Gideon.
The door at the end of the east corridor was exactly as it had been the morning she died.
A yellow cardigan lay across the back of a chair.
A half-finished drawing remained on her desk.
Three stuffed animals were arranged against the pillows because Ren insisted they became lonely if separated.
On the wall hung painted sunflowers.
Gideon had not opened the room after the funeral.
He could face armed men.
He could face judges.
He could face entire organizations that wanted him dead.
He could not face that room.
Until Ava said the necklace was a key.
Twenty minutes after escaping the greenhouse, Gideon stood before Ren’s door.
Ava and Sophie waited behind him.
Marcus had doubled security.
Peter Voss remained detained downstairs.
Caleb Ross had disappeared.
Silas had escaped beyond the north wall.
The storm continued.
Gideon placed his hand on the doorknob.
It was unlocked.
It had always been unlocked.
The barrier had never been mechanical.
It had been him.
He opened the door.
A familiar scent hit him first.
Baby shampoo.
Old books.
The faint strawberry perfume Ren’s mother used to spray on her pillows.
Gideon stopped.
Sophie whispered, “Pretty.”
Ava touched her sister’s shoulder.
Gideon walked inside.
Nothing seemed disturbed.
Dust covered the windowsill.
On Ren’s desk sat a crayon drawing of three people beneath an enormous yellow sun.
Gideon.
Ren.
And her mother, Evelyn.
Even after the divorce, Ren continued drawing them together.
Children often believed broken things should be easy to repair.
“Where?” Gideon asked.
Ava looked around.
“Mom said the flower knows.”
Gideon turned.
“What flower?”
“She didn’t explain.”
Sophie pointed toward the wall.
“There.”
Painted sunflowers covered one section beside Ren’s bookshelf.
Gideon approached.
Each flower had been painted by hand.
One had a small brass center.
He had seen it hundreds of times without noticing.
The sunflower pendant around his neck suddenly felt heavier.
He removed it.
The pendant was exactly the size of the brass center.
Marcus came closer.
“You’re kidding.”
Gideon pressed it into the flower.
Click.
A panel inside the bookshelf released.
Ava gasped.
Behind it was a narrow compartment.
Inside sat a small black device.
An old digital recorder.
And an envelope.
Gideon’s name was written across the front.
Not in Hannah Reed’s handwriting.
He knew the handwriting.
Ren’s mother.
Evelyn.
Gideon opened the envelope.
Inside was a single page.
Gideon,
If you are reading this, then Hannah finally found a way back to you.
I’m sorry.
I wanted to tell you.
I was afraid.
Ren spoke before she died.
The doctors lied to you.
Someone paid them to lie.
Hannah heard everything.
Please listen before you decide what to do.
Do not become the thing Ren was always afraid you would become.
— Evelyn
Gideon read it twice.
His hands shook.
Marcus quietly closed the bedroom door.
Ava watched Gideon.
“Is that from Ren’s mommy?”
“Yes.”
“Where is she?”
“California.”
“Does she know?”
Gideon did not answer.
He turned on the recorder.
Nothing happened.
Battery dead.
Marcus found a charging cable.
They waited.
Five minutes felt like an hour.
Finally the device lit.
There were three audio files.
The first was dated the night Ren died.
Gideon pressed play.
At first there was hospital noise.
Footsteps.
Monitors.
Someone crying in the distance.
Then a woman’s voice.
Hannah.
“Stay with me, sweetheart.”
A child whimpered.
Gideon gripped the desk.
Ren.
His daughter’s voice was faint.
“Daddy?”
Gideon closed his eyes.
Sophie moved closer to Ava.
Hannah’s recording continued.
“Your daddy is coming.”
“I want Daddy.”
“He’s coming, honey.”
A pause.
Then Ren whispered:
“Uncle Si was mad.”
Gideon’s eyes opened.
Marcus went rigid.
Hannah’s voice became clearer.
“Who was mad?”
“Uncle Si.”
“Why?”
“He said Daddy didn’t listen.”
A machine beeped rapidly.
Someone entered the room.
A male voice.
“Hannah, step outside.”
The recording ended.
Nobody spoke.
Gideon stared at the device.
File two.
He pressed play.
Hannah sounded frightened.
“I’m recording this because I don’t know who to trust. The child regained consciousness at 7:14 p.m. She spoke clearly. Dr. Mercer ordered staff to document her as unresponsive. I objected. He told me Mr. Crosswell was dangerous and that it was for everyone’s protection.”
A breath.
“Then a man came into the hallway. Gray coat. He spoke privately with Mercer.”
The recording crackled.
“I recognized him from the family photographs beside Ren’s bed.”
Gideon’s mouth went dry.
“He was Silas Kane.”
Ava whispered, “That’s him.”
Hannah continued.
“I heard Kane tell Dr. Mercer: ‘This has to remain an accident.’”
The recording stopped.
Gideon pressed file three.
This one had been recorded months later.
Hannah sounded exhausted.
“If Gideon Crosswell ever hears this, I need him to understand something. I did not keep quiet because I wanted to. Mr. Kane threatened my daughters. He knew their school. He knew our address. He knew everything.”
Ava’s eyes filled with tears.
“I tried to contact Ren’s mother instead. Evelyn believed me. We hid copies. She convinced me Gideon could not be approached through his organization because Kane had people inside it.”
Marcus looked toward the door.
Hannah continued.
“There is more evidence. The crash was planned. The driver was paid. I have bank records and a statement from Daniel Hurst recorded before he died.”
Gideon nearly dropped the recorder.
Daniel Hurst.
The driver.
A dead man had left a statement.
“The files are hidden at a place Ren described to me before she lost consciousness. She said her father took her there when she wanted to see the boats.”
Gideon knew instantly.
Pier 17.
An abandoned observation building beside one of Crosswell Shipping’s oldest docks.
He used to take Ren there early Sunday mornings.
Nobody else knew.
Hannah’s recording continued.
“Evelyn hid the access code in Ren’s bedroom. The pendant unlocks the compartment containing this recorder. If you found it, you now know enough to decide whether you are willing to hear the rest.”
A pause.
Then Hannah said:
“Gideon, Ren’s death was not meant to kill only her.”
His blood turned cold.
“The original target was you.”
Marcus looked at him.
“But your schedule changed that afternoon. Ren used your car instead.”
Gideon remembered.
He had planned to ride from a business meeting to the lakefront.
At 3:00 p.m., Evelyn called because Ren’s regular driver was sick.
Gideon sent his car for her.
His car.
His route.
His daughter.
Hannah’s voice broke.
“Silas Kane ordered the collision believing you were inside.”
Gideon sat down.
He could no longer stand.
For a year, he had blamed chance.
A drunk driver.
Bad timing.
God.
Himself.
Now the truth was uglier.
Ren had died because someone tried to kill him.
Ava walked closer.
“My mom didn’t want Sophie and me to know everything.”
“How did you?”
“We heard Silas talking.”
“When?”
“Three nights ago.”
She wiped her face.
“He said Mommy had until Friday to give him the Pier 17 files.”
Friday.
Tomorrow.
“What happened?”
“Mom woke us up. She gave Sophie the necklace. She gave me a map. She said if she didn’t come back in one hour, we had to run.”
“You ran here?”
Ava nodded.
“We were hiding for two days.”
“Two days?”
“In an empty building.”
“No food?”
“Not much.”
Sophie whispered, “One granola bar.”
Gideon looked at them.
Two children had crossed part of Chicago in a winter storm carrying the truth about his daughter.
Because their mother believed the most dangerous man she knew might be the only person capable of protecting them.
“Why didn’t you go to the police?” Marcus asked.
Ava shook her head.
“Mommy said Silas owns police too.”
That was not impossible.
Gideon stood.
“We go to Pier 17.”
Marcus nodded.
“Agreed.”
Ava suddenly grabbed Gideon’s sleeve.
“No.”
He looked down.
“What?”
“Mom said something else.”
“What?”
Ava’s voice became barely audible.
“She said if you found the recorder, you should never go to Pier 17.”
Gideon stared at her.
“Why?”
“Because that’s where Silas wants you.”
At that exact moment, Gideon’s phone rang.
He answered.
Silas Kane’s voice filled the room.
“You opened Ren’s wall.”
Gideon looked slowly toward the ceiling.
Toward the cameras.
Silas laughed softly.
“I told you, Gideon.”
May you like
A pause.
“You still don’t understand how many people in that house belong to me.”
