Chapter 12 - The Basement Archive
Police locked down the airfield before Victor arrived.
Grant was not there.
Neither was Serena.
But a charter pilot said a woman matching Serena's description had called asking how quickly a plane could leave for Montreal with "a small child."
She never showed.
Victor returned home furious and exhausted.
"She's testing exits," Daniel said. "Airport. Lake house. Service gate."
Lily shook her head. "She's not just running. She's still trying to get Ethan."
Rosa entered with another piece of the puzzle.
"There is something I should have shown you years ago."
Victor stared at her.
Rosa led them to the basement wine cellar.
Behind a rack of old Bordeaux was a narrow maintenance door.
Inside sat filing cabinets.
"Mrs. Blackwood used this for foundation records," Rosa said. "After she died, Miss Vale told me it was mold-damaged and should stay locked."
Victor opened the first cabinet.
No mold.
Inside were old payroll ledgers, camera service invoices, and staff complaints.
One complaint had been filed by a nanny who worked for Serena's sister three years earlier.
ALLEGED ROUGH HANDLING OF CHILD. EMPLOYEE TERMINATED AFTER REPORTING INCIDENT.
Another involved a housekeeper at Serena's former home.
Then another.
Lily whispered, "This is a pattern."
Victor found a folder labeled V.B.
Inside were copies of his travel schedules, medication list, car maintenance records, and life insurance policy.
At the bottom was a typed document titled POST-MARRIAGE TRANSITION.
Step one: isolate domestic staff.
Step two: replace pediatrician.
Step three: establish nanny negligence.
Step four: consolidate guardianship and trust authority.
Victor read the page twice.
"She wrote a plan."
Daniel shook his head. "People like Serena don't think it's a crime if they call it strategy."
A floorboard creaked above them.
Everyone froze.
Police officers moved toward the stairs.
The basement lights went out.
Darkness swallowed the room.
Lily reached for Victor's sleeve.
"Ethan is upstairs."
Victor's blood went cold.
They ran.
The nursery was empty.
Again.
But this time there was no crying from another room.
The balcony doors were closed.
The hallway guard was unconscious near the service elevator.
Rosa screamed.
Lily saw a white card lying in the crib.
She picked it up.
May you like
One sentence was written in Serena's handwriting.
YOU WANTED PROOF. NOW PROVE YOU CAN FIND HIM.
