Chapter 6: The Man in the Black Coat
Adrian stared at the photograph for so long that I wondered whether he had stopped breathing.
The man in the black coat stood beside a dark sedan, his face partially obscured by the reflection on the car window. He was tall, broad-shouldered, and appeared to be in his forties.
There was nothing remarkable about him.
That was what made the photograph so unsettling.
He could have been a businessman leaving an office building. A stranger waiting for a taxi. Someone who had wandered into the frame by accident.
But Lily was shaking.
“Are you sure?”” Adrian asked gently.
She nodded.
“He came to our house before Mom disappeared.””
“Did you see him take her?””
Lily pressed the stuffed rabbit against her chest.
“I saw him talking to her.””
“Where?””
“In the driveway.””
Adrian leaned forward.
“What happened next?””
Lily looked toward the kitchen door.
“Aunt Victoria told me to go upstairs. I didn't want to, so I hid behind the curtains.””
Her voice grew quieter.
“I heard Mom say she wasn't going anywhere without me.””
Adrian's face tightened.
“What did the man say?””
“I couldn't hear everything. But he said something about a hospital.””
My skin prickled.
“A hospital?”” I repeated.
Lily nodded.
“Mom started crying. Then Aunt Victoria told him that everything had been arranged.””
Adrian stood so abruptly that his chair fell backward.
“Arranged by whom?””
Lily flinched.
He immediately crouched beside her.
“I'm sorry, sweetheart. I'm not angry with you.””
She studied his face.
“Are you going to believe me?””
His eyes filled with tears.
“Yes.””
“Even if Aunt Victoria says I'm lying?””
“Even then.””
Lily began to cry.
Adrian gathered her into his arms, slowly enough that she had time to pull away.
She didn't.
She pressed her face against his shoulder and clutched his jacket.
“I tried to tell you,” she sobbed.
“I tried so many times.””
Adrian closed his eyes.
“I know.””
“She said you didn't want me.””
His arms tightened around her.
“I was wrong not to come sooner. But I have never stopped caring about you.””
For a few moments, nobody spoke.
I stood near the kitchen counter, watching a little girl finally receive the comfort she had been denied for two years.
Then Adrian gently released her.
“Marissa, I need you to do something for me.””
“Anything.””
“Take Lily upstairs and stay with her. Don't let anyone take her out of your sight. I'm calling the police and my attorney.””
I nodded.
“What about Victoria?””
Adrian glanced toward the hallway.
“I'll deal with her.””
Lily grabbed his sleeve.
“Don't let her come into my room.””
“I won't.””
“Promise?””
Adrian looked into her eyes.
“I promise.””
I led Lily upstairs.
As we passed the west wing, she stopped beside the locked study door.
“Mom used to work in there,” she whispered.
I looked at the brass nameplate.
Only the first three letters remained visible.
“Did she have an office here?””
Lily nodded.
“She liked the window because she could see the garden. She said she could think better when she saw the trees.””
“Did your aunt move her things?””
“Everything.””
Lily pointed toward the door.
“Except the room behind the wall.””
I turned to her.
“What do you mean?””
She looked toward the corridor, making sure nobody was listening.
“Mom said there was another room behind the shelves. She told me not to go inside unless I had the key.””
I remembered the hidden compartment behind the bookshelf.
“Is that where the box was?””
“No. The box was there. But there's another door.””
My pulse quickened.
“Where?””
Lily pointed to the far wall.
“Behind the big painting.””
I looked down the corridor.
A large oil painting hung opposite the study door, depicting a field of white flowers beneath a stormy sky.
I had passed it dozens of times.
I had never noticed anything unusual.
“Did your mother show you the door?””
Lily nodded.
“Once. She said it was where she kept things Aunt Victoria must never find.””
“What kind of things?””
Lily looked at me.
“Proof.””
Before I could ask another question, a door slammed downstairs.
Victoria's voice rose through the mansion.
“Where is she?””
Lily immediately grabbed my hand.
“She's coming.””
I led her into her bedroom and locked the door.
A few seconds later, footsteps thundered up the staircase.
Then someone tried the handle.
“Marissa, open this door.””
Victoria.
I moved between Lily and the entrance.
“She's resting.””
“I didn't ask what she was doing.””
“Mr. Whitmore told me not to let anyone disturb her.””
There was a sharp silence.
Then Victoria laughed.
“Adrian doesn't give you orders in my house.””
“He does now.””
The handle jerked violently.
“Open the door.””
“No.””
The silence that followed was worse than shouting.
Then Victoria spoke softly.
“You should think very carefully about what you're doing. You have no family here. No money.
No influence. If I decide you are a danger to this household, you will never work in a respectable home again.””
I looked at Lily.
She had backed into the corner, her stuffed rabbit pressed to her chest.
I turned toward the door.
“Then I suppose you'll have to decide.””
Victoria struck the wood with her palm.
“You ungrateful little nobody!””
Her footsteps retreated.
I waited until I could no longer hear them.
Then I knelt beside Lily.
“Are you okay?””
She shook her head.
“She always does that.””
“Threatens people?””
“Sometimes she says things that sound nice. Sometimes she says things that make you feel like you're going to disappear.””
I brushed a strand of hair from her face.
“You're not going to disappear.””
Lily stared at me.
“Can we find the other door?””
I hesitated.
Adrian had asked me to stay with her.
But the hidden room might contain evidence that could explain what happened to Rebecca.
And if Victoria discovered it first, we might never learn the truth.
“We'll tell your uncle what you said,” I promised.
“Then we'll see what he wants us to do.””
I found Adrian in the study twenty minutes later.
He was speaking to a man on the phone, pacing beside the desk.
“Yes, Daniel, I understand that the original file may have been archived. I need you to find it today.””
He listened.
“No. This is no longer a family disagreement. An eight-year-old child has disappeared from the estate once already, and I have reason to believe documents concerning her mother were falsified.””
He ended the call and looked at me.
“Is Lily safe?””
“For now.””
I told him about the hidden door behind the painting.
His expression sharpened.
“Are you certain?””
“Lily says her mother showed it to her.””
Adrian walked into the hallway and studied the painting.
He ran his fingers along the frame, then pushed gently against the wall.
Nothing happened.
He examined the lower edge.
A narrow seam was visible beneath the decorative molding.
“Help me move it,” he said.
Together, we lifted the painting away from the wall.
Behind it was a narrow wooden panel, painted the same color as the surrounding wall. A small brass keyhole sat near the bottom.
Adrian looked at the key from the box.
It fitted.
The lock clicked.
He pulled the panel open.
Behind it lay a dark passage, barely wide enough for one person to enter. The air smelled of dust, old paper, and damp wood.
Adrian switched on his phone flashlight.
The passage led to a small room.
Inside stood a desk, a filing cabinet, and several shelves filled with labeled folders.
A computer sat beneath the window.
Unlike the rest of the west wing, this room had been carefully maintained.
Someone had been here recently.
Adrian stepped inside.
“Rebecca,” he whispered.
On the desk lay a framed photograph of Rebecca and Lily at the beach.
Rebecca was laughing, her hair blowing across her face. Lily sat on her shoulders, holding a seashell in one hand.
Beneath the frame was a small digital recorder.
Adrian picked it up.
A piece of tape had been attached to the back.
Written on it were the words:
*FOR ADRIAN. PLAY THIS BEFORE YOU TRUST ANYONE.*
His fingers trembled.
I stood beside him as he pressed the power button.
Static crackled through the tiny speaker.
Then a woman's voice filled the room.
“Adrian, if you're listening to this, it means I wasn't able to tell you the truth myself.””
He staggered backward.
“Rebecca?””
The recording continued.
“I don't have much time. Victoria knows I've discovered what she's been doing. She has been taking money from Lily's trust, and when I confronted her, she threatened to have me declared mentally unfit.””
Adrian covered his mouth.
The voice on the recorder grew more urgent.
“She says no one will believe me because she has already spoken to the doctors, the lawyers, and the people who are supposed to protect us.””
I felt a chill run down my spine.
Rebecca continued.
“If anything happens to me, please don't assume it was an accident.””
Adrian's face had gone completely white.
“Find Daniel Mercer. He has the original trust documents. And find the man in the black coat. His name is—”
The recording abruptly stopped.
Adrian pressed the button again.
Nothing.
He removed the batteries, checked the device, and tried once more.
The same static.
Then silence.
“His name is what?”” Adrian shouted.
He struck the desk with his palm.
“Damn it!””
I examined the recorder.
“The battery might have failed.””
“Can you fix it?””
“I don't know. But I can take it to someone who repairs audio equipment.””
Adrian nodded sharply.
“Do it.””
I placed the recorder carefully in my pocket.
Then I noticed something beneath the desk.
A white envelope had been taped to the underside of the drawer.
I pulled it free.
On the front, in Rebecca's handwriting, were two words.
*FOR LILY.*
I handed it to Adrian.
He opened it carefully.
Inside was a folded letter and a small photograph.
The photograph showed Rebecca standing beside a man in a black coat.
This time, his face was clearly visible.
Adrian stared at it.
Then he whispered a name.
“Marcus Vale.””
He looked as though he had seen a ghost.
“Who is he?”” I asked.
Adrian sat down slowly.
“Marcus was the head of security for my company. He worked for me for nearly fifteen years.””
“Was?””
“He disappeared shortly after Rebecca's accident.””
He turned the photograph over.
A date had been written on the back.
The day Rebecca supposedly died.
Adrian looked at the letter.
His hands shook as he unfolded it.
But before he could read the first sentence, the computer on the desk suddenly powered on.
The screen flickered.
A single line appeared.
*WELCOME BACK, ADRIAN.*
Then another message appeared beneath it.
*YOU HAVE TEN MINUTES TO LEAVE THE HOUSE.*
A countdown began.
09:59.
09:58.
09:57.
Adrian stared at the screen.
“What the hell is this?””
I stepped closer.
The computer had no visible internet connection, and the power cable had been disconnected.
Yet the countdown continued.
Then a third message appeared.
*IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHERE REBECCA IS, COME ALONE.*
Adrian looked at me.
Neither of us spoke.
May you like
Because there was only one person in the world who could have known that Rebecca might still be alive.
And somewhere inside the Whitmore estate, that person was watching us.
