Chapter 3 — The Key Under Mia’s Pillow
Chapter 3 — The Key Under Mia’s Pillow
The gunshot echoed through Vale Estate.
Dominic was already moving before the sound finished traveling through the corridor.
"Harper!"
He ran up the stairs two at a time.
Behind him came Daniel and four armed guards.
Nathan shouted something.
Dominic didn't hear it.
The only thought in his mind was the little girl who had trusted him enough to call him Mr. Vale.
Then the lights came back on.
A second later, another gunshot cracked through the house.
Dominic reached the guest bedroom.
The door was open.
The bed was empty.
His heart stopped.
"Mia?"
No answer.
"Harper!"
Silence.
The window was open.
Curtains moved in the cold night air.
Dominic crossed the room and looked outside.
Snow covered the lawn.
No footprints.
No vehicle.
Nothing.
Then he saw the blood.
A thin red line ran across the white carpet.
Dominic followed it.
It disappeared beneath the bed.
He crouched.
A small silver bracelet lay underneath.
Harper's.
Dominic picked it up.
His blood ran cold.
"Daniel."
"Sir?"
"Lock every gate."
"They're already locked."
"Then lock them again."
Daniel moved toward the security panel.
Dominic turned.
Nathan stood in the doorway.
He was breathing heavily.
"Where are they?"
Nathan shook his head.
"I don't know."
Dominic raised his weapon.
"You have three seconds to give me a better answer."
Nathan looked at the bracelet.
"They took Harper."
Dominic's expression became murderous.
"Who?"
"I don't know."
"You expect me to believe that?"
"I knew this would happen."
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
"What did you know?"
Nathan looked toward the hallway.
"Your father warned me."
"When?"
"Before he died."
Dominic stepped closer.
"About what?"
Nathan swallowed.
"About the night the lights went out."
Downstairs, Claire was gone.
The study door stood open.
The ledger was missing.
Dominic looked at the empty compartment.
"Find Claire."
Daniel's men scattered.
Dominic turned to Nathan.
"You said someone took Harper."
"Yes."
"How did they get inside?"
Nathan shook his head.
"They didn't."
Dominic stared at him.
"What?"
"The person who took her was already here."
Dominic's eyes hardened.
"Who?"
Nathan didn't answer.
Dominic grabbed him by the collar.
"Who?"
Nathan whispered:
"Someone with access to the entire house."
Dominic released him.
"Claire."
"No."
"Nathan."
"Not Claire."
"Then who?"
Nathan looked at the staircase.
"Someone you trust."
Dominic's jaw tightened.
"I don't trust anyone."
Nathan gave a bitter smile.
"Not anymore."
Mia woke to darkness.
Her shoulder burned.
Her wrists hurt.
For several seconds, she didn't know where she was.
Then she heard breathing.
Small.
Fast.
Frightened.
"Harper?"
A tiny hand grabbed hers.
"Mommy."
Mia exhaled.
"Oh, thank God."
"Where are we?"
"I don't know."
Mia tried to sit up.
Pain shot through her shoulder.
She gasped.
Harper began crying.
"Don't move."
"I have to get you out."
"But Mr. Vale will find us."
Mia froze.
"Did he?"
Harper nodded.
"He came."
"Then where is he?"
"I don't know."
Mia closed her eyes.
She remembered the gunshot.
The darkness.
A hand covering her mouth.
Someone carrying Harper.
Someone whispering:
Don't make a sound.
Mia opened her eyes.
"Harper."
"Yes?"
"Did you see who took us?"
Harper shook her head.
"Was it Claire?"
"No."
"Nathan?"
"No."
"Then who?"
Harper thought.
Then whispered:
"It was the man from the picture."
Mia's heart stopped.
"What picture?"
"The one in the secret room."
Mia stared into the darkness.
"Are you sure?"
"He looked like Mr. Vale."
Mia felt cold.
"Did he say anything?"
Harper nodded.
"He said..."
She hesitated.
"What?"
"He said Daddy is waiting."
Mia's breathing stopped.
"Your daddy?"
Harper nodded.
"But I don't know who he is."
Mia closed her eyes.
Neither did she.
At least, not anymore.
Dominic stood in his father's old study.
The ledger was gone.
Claire was gone.
Harper was gone.
And Nathan had just told him that the person responsible had access to the estate.
Daniel entered.
"Sir."
"What?"
"We found Miss Claire."
"Where?"
"Outside the eastern gate."
"Alive?"
"Yes."
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
"Bring her."
"She's injured."
"How badly?"
"She's been shot."
Dominic stared.
"Where?"
"Shoulder."
"Who shot her?"
"We don't know."
Dominic looked at Nathan.
Nathan's face had gone pale.
"Someone is cleaning up witnesses," he said.
Dominic turned.
"What?"
Nathan looked at him.
"First Mia."
"Then Claire."
"Then Harper."
Dominic's expression darkened.
"And who's next?"
Nathan didn't answer.
Dominic already knew.
Him.
Claire was brought into the library ten minutes later.
Blood covered the sleeve of her white robe.
She looked terrified.
Dominic stared at her.
"Where is Harper?"
Claire shook her head.
"I don't know."
"Who shot you?"
"I don't know."
"Who took her?"
"I don't know."
Dominic walked closer.
"Three answers."
Three seconds.
"Three lies."
Claire's eyes filled with tears.
"I'm telling you the truth."
Dominic looked at the wound.
"You were shot from behind."
Claire nodded.
"Yes."
"At the eastern gate."
"Yes."
"How did you get there?"
"I was running."
"From whom?"
"I don't know."
Dominic's voice became colder.
"You know something."
Claire looked at Nathan.
Nathan looked away.
Dominic noticed.
"Get out."
Nathan frowned.
"What?"
"Everyone except Claire."
Daniel hesitated.
"Sir?"
"Out."
The room emptied.
Dominic locked the door.
Then he sat across from Claire.
"Start talking."
Claire stared at him.
"He came to me."
"Who?"
"The man in the photographs."
"What does he want?"
"Harper."
"Why?"
"Because he says she's his daughter."
Dominic froze.
"Who is he?"
Claire shook her head.
"He never told me his name."
"Then how do you know he's connected to my family?"
"Because he knew everything."
"What?"
"Your father's secrets."
"Mia's past."
"Your mother's death."
"Your childhood."
Claire wiped blood from her hand.
"And he knew something about me that nobody else knew."
Dominic leaned forward.
"What?"
Claire whispered:
"He knew I was pregnant."
Dominic's expression changed.
"Pregnant?"
"Five years ago."
"With whose child?"
Claire's eyes filled with tears.
"Your father's."
Silence.
Dominic stared at her.
"That's impossible."
"I lost the baby."
"When?"
"Five years ago."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because your father made me sign a confidentiality agreement."
Dominic stood.
"Why?"
"He said the child would destroy the family."
Dominic stared at her.
"Where is the child?"
Claire looked at him.
"I don't know."
Then the door opened.
Daniel entered.
"Sir."
Dominic turned.
"What?"
"We found something."
"What?"
"In Mia's bedroom."
Mia's bedroom was small compared with the rest of the estate.
Dominic had never noticed how little she owned.
A wooden dresser.
A narrow bed.
A photograph of Harper.
Two books.
A small lamp.
Nothing expensive.
Nothing unnecessary.
Daniel stood beside the bed.
"We searched everything."
Dominic looked around.
"What did you find?"
"Nothing."
"Then why did you call me?"
Daniel pointed toward the pillow.
"Because the dog found something."
Dominic frowned.
A trained security dog sat beside the bed.
Daniel lifted the pillow.
A small metallic object lay underneath.
A key.
Old.
Silver.
With a black mark engraved across its surface.
Dominic picked it up.
His fingers tightened.
He knew that symbol.
The same seventeen-line circle from his father's ledger.
"What does it open?"
Daniel shook his head.
"We don't know."
Dominic turned the key over.
There was a number engraved on the back.
17.
His heart began pounding.
"Search the room again."
Daniel's men started opening drawers.
Dominic looked beneath the mattress.
Nothing.
He opened the dresser.
Nothing.
Then he noticed the photograph of Mia and Harper.
He picked it up.
The frame was heavier than it should have been.
He turned it over.
A tiny screw held the back in place.
Dominic removed it.
Inside was a folded piece of paper.
He opened it.
Three words.
Trust the child.
Dominic stared.
Daniel stepped closer.
"What does it mean?"
Dominic didn't answer.
He looked at the photograph again.
Then at the key.
Then at the note.
Mia had hidden the key under her pillow.
She had hidden the message inside her photograph.
She had expected someone to search her room.
She had expected to disappear.
And she had expected Dominic to find her clues.
But why?
At 4:13 a.m., Dominic entered the hidden room beneath the wine cellar.
The key fit the first lock.
Click.
The wall opened.
Behind it was a narrow staircase.
Daniel raised his flashlight.
Dominic descended.
The stairs went deeper than the basement.
Far deeper.
The air became colder.
At the bottom was a steel door.
On it was the number:
17.
Dominic inserted the key.
The lock opened.
Inside was a laboratory.
Old equipment covered the walls.
Medical records.
Computers.
Freezers.
Photographs.
Dominic stared.
"This was here?"
Daniel looked stunned.
"For years."
Dominic walked toward the nearest table.
A folder lay open.
PROJECT 17
He opened it.
The first page contained a list of names.
Some were crossed out.
Some were marked dead.
Others were marked:
TRANSFERRED.
At the bottom was one name.
MIA CARTER.
Dominic turned the page.
CHILD: HARPER CARTER.
His heart tightened.
Then he saw another name.
FATHER: UNKNOWN.
A red stamp appeared beneath it.
IDENTITY SUPPRESSED BY ORDER OF RICHARD VALE.
Dominic stared at his father's name.
"What the hell were you doing?"
Daniel said nothing.
Dominic opened another file.
A photograph fell out.
It showed Mia.
Pregnant.
Standing beside Dominic's father.
Dominic froze.
The date was six months before Harper was born.
He turned the photograph over.
There was handwriting on the back.
SHE DOES NOT KNOW WHO THE FATHER IS.
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
"Who took this?"
Daniel picked up another file.
"Sir."
Dominic turned.
Daniel held a medical record.
"There are DNA results."
"Whose?"
Daniel looked at the page.
Then at Dominic.
"Harper."
"Compared against whom?"
Daniel's expression changed.
"You."
Silence.
Dominic took the file.
His hands were suddenly cold.
The report contained genetic markers.
The conclusion was partially blacked out.
But one line remained visible.
PATERNITY: 99.98% PROBABILITY.
Dominic stared.
"No."
Daniel said nothing.
"This is impossible."
"Sir..."
"I've never slept with Mia."
"I know."
"Then the test is wrong."
Daniel looked at the date.
"It was conducted before Harper was born."
Dominic's breathing became shallow.
"Who was the second sample?"
Daniel turned the page.
His face went pale.
"Your father."
Dominic stopped breathing.
The room seemed to tilt.
His father.
Mia.
Harper.
Project 17.
A hidden laboratory.
A suppressed identity.
And a DNA result that made no sense.
Then a sound came from the hallway.
Footsteps.
Dominic raised his weapon.
"Who's there?"
No answer.
The footsteps stopped.
Daniel moved toward the door.
A shadow passed beneath it.
Dominic shouted:
"Show yourself!"
Silence.
Then a voice came through the steel.
A man's voice.
Low.
Calm.
Familiar.
"You're finally asking the right questions, Dominic."
Dominic froze.
He knew that voice.
He had heard it once before.
At his father's funeral.
Twelve years ago.
The voice belonged to a man everyone believed had died with Richard Vale.
Dominic stared at the door.
"Who are you?"
The man laughed softly.
"You've spent your entire life thinking your father had one son."
Dominic's grip tightened around the gun.
The voice continued:
"You were wrong."
Dominic fired.
The bullet struck the steel door.
By the time Daniel opened it, the corridor was empty.
Only one thing remained.
A small photograph.
Dominic picked it up.
It showed a newborn baby.
On the back, written in his father's handwriting:
MY SECOND SON.
Underneath was a name.
ALEXANDER VALE.
Dominic stared.
Then he whispered:
"My brother."
Across the estate, Mia suddenly woke.
Harper was sleeping beside her.
Mia reached beneath her pillow.
Her fingers touched nothing.
The key was gone.
Her eyes widened.
Someone had found it.
She looked toward the bedroom door.
A shadow stood beneath it.
Mia held her breath.
The handle slowly turned.
The door opened.
A man stepped inside.
Mia recognized his face.
The same face she had seen years earlier.
The same face from the photograph.
The face that looked almost exactly like Dominic's father.
He smiled.
"Hello, Mia."
She pulled Harper closer.
"You."
He stepped forward.
"Did you really think Dominic would protect you?"
Mia's voice shook.
"What do you want?"
He looked at Harper.
"Her."
Mia shook her head.
"No."
He smiled.
"That's what your father said too."
Mia froze.
"My father?"
The man leaned closer.
"He told you the truth once."
Mia stared.
"What truth?"
The man's smile disappeared.
"That Harper was never supposed to be born."
Mia tightened her arms around her daughter.
The man reached into his coat.
He pulled out a photograph.
Mia looked at it.
Her face went white.
It showed her own mother.
Standing beside Richard Vale.
And beside them...
was a much younger Alexander Vale.
Mia whispered:
"Who are you?"
He smiled.
May you like
"The son your family erased."
Then the lights went out again.
