Chapter 8 - The Girl Who Knew Too Much
Norah Bennett had ten minutes to save two people, and the only man she trusted was being driven to jail.
She stood in the ballroom while Valerie continued speaking into the microphone.
The crowd watched the enormous screen.
The forged bank records remained visible.
Some guests whispered.
Others stared at Norah with open contempt.
She barely noticed.
Her eyes were fixed on the photograph of Lily and Catherine.
The message had come from an unknown number.
But the photograph contained something familiar.
Behind Lily was a narrow window.
Below it stood an old cast-iron radiator.
And on the wall, almost hidden by shadow, was a faded blue stripe.
Norah had seen that stripe before.
In the photograph from the care facility.
The room looked identical.
But Catherine had supposedly been moved.
Norah zoomed in.
The radiator.
The window.
The paint.
Then she noticed something else.
A small brass plate mounted beside the door.
The number 14.
Her heart began pounding.
Bay 14.
The storage unit.
The room.
The number kept appearing.
She looked toward the ballroom entrance.
Two security guards stood near the doors.
Valerie was still speaking.
"Trust is the foundation of every meaningful relationship," she announced. "And betrayal is especially painful when it comes from those we try to help."
Norah almost laughed.
Instead, she walked toward the nearest exit.
A hand caught her elbow.
Leo Grant.
Her restaurant manager.
He wore a black suit that was clearly more expensive than anything he had ever worn to work.
"Where are you going?" he whispered.
"Home."
"Valerie wants you to stay."
"Valerie wants a lot of things."
Leo tightened his grip.
"Don't make this difficult."
Norah looked at his hand.
"Let go."
He hesitated.
Then released her.
"You're making a terrible mistake."
She studied him.
"How much did they pay you?"
His face changed.
Norah had her answer.
"Was it worth it?" she asked.
"Norah—"
"Did you tell them about Lily's locker?"
Leo looked away.
She felt sick.
"You knew they took her."
"I didn't know what they were going to do."
"She's nineteen."
"I have a family."
"So does she."
Leo's eyes filled with something resembling shame.
"They said they'd close the restaurant. They said everyone would lose their jobs."
Norah stared at him.
"You believed them?"
He swallowed.
"I wanted to."
For a moment, she saw a frightened man who had convinced himself that obedience was survival.
Then she remembered Lily's tied wrists.
"Where are they keeping her?"
Leo shook his head.
"I don't know."
"Leo."
"I swear."
Norah started walking.
He caught her attention one last time.
"Wait."
She turned.
He reached into his pocket and handed her a folded receipt.
On the back was a handwritten address.
An abandoned Whitmore-owned rehabilitation center near the river.
"I heard Valerie mention it," he whispered. "That's all I know."
Norah took the paper.
"Why are you helping me?"
Leo's face crumpled.
"Because I saw Lily's mother die when she was fourteen. I've known that girl for years."
Norah stared at him.
"And you still helped them?"
He lowered his head.
"I know."
She left without answering.
Outside, rain swept across the hotel's entrance.
Norah called Dominic's attorney, Rebecca Sloan.
Rebecca answered immediately.
"Norah?"
"Dominic's arrest was staged."
"I know. I'm challenging the warrant."
"Valerie has Lily."
A pause.
"Where?"
Norah gave her the address.
Rebecca's voice sharpened.
"Do not go there alone."
"I don't have time."
"Listen to me. Dominic is being held on evidence that appears to have been fabricated. I've already contacted federal investigators."
"Then send them to the address."
"Norah—"
"Please."
She ended the call.
A black sedan pulled to the curb.
Norah stepped back.
The rear window lowered.
Marcus Hale sat inside.
Her blood went cold.
"Get in," he said.
"No."
"Norah, we don't have time."
"You betrayed Dominic."
Marcus looked exhausted.
"That's what they wanted him to believe."
"Samuel had a photograph."
"I know."
"You were standing beside Adrian and Detective Cross."
"Because I was investigating them."
Norah didn't move.
Marcus leaned forward.
"Ask yourself something. If I wanted you dead, why did I warn Dominic about the device in your apartment?"
"You didn't."
"No. I didn't tell him directly. I sent the anonymous tip that got his team there before the ignition timer activated."
Norah stared at him.
Marcus continued.
"I resigned because Cross threatened my daughter. She's twelve."
Something in his voice changed when he said the word daughter.
"Adrian has people inside Dominic's organization. I couldn't tell which phones were compromised."
"Then why should I trust you now?"
"You shouldn't."
He opened the car door.
"But Lily is at the old Whitmore rehabilitation center, and I'm the only person who knows the service entrance."
Norah considered her options.
She could wait for Rebecca.
She could call the police.
Or she could trust a man whose loyalty had become impossible to measure.
Her phone vibrated again.
A new photograph appeared.
Lily was lying on the floor.
Her eyes were closed.
Below it were three words.
Five minutes left.
Norah got into the car.
They reached the abandoned rehabilitation center in eleven minutes.
Marcus parked behind a row of dumpsters.
The building had been closed for six years.
Most windows were boarded.
A single light burned on the second floor.
"Two men at the front," Marcus whispered. "One near the rear staircase."
"How do you know?"
"I've been watching the place since yesterday."
"Then why didn't you rescue them?"
"Because until tonight, I didn't know which room they were in."
Norah showed him the photograph.
Marcus studied it.
"That's the old hydrotherapy wing."
They entered through a service tunnel.
The air smelled of mold and damp plaster.
Somewhere above them, a door slammed.
Marcus signaled for Norah to remain behind him.
They climbed the stairs.
At the second-floor landing, voices drifted from an open room.
A man laughed.
Another complained about being hungry.
Marcus moved silently.
Norah waited beside a cracked doorway.
A struggle erupted.
A chair overturned.
Something heavy struck the floor.
Then Marcus whispered, "Clear."
Norah ran into the corridor.
Room 214 stood at the far end.
She reached it.
Locked.
"Lily!"
A faint voice answered.
"Norah?"
Norah nearly collapsed with relief.
"I'm here!"
Marcus forced the lock with a tool from his pocket.
Inside, Lily sat against the wall, her wrists bound with plastic restraints.
Catherine Mercer lay on a narrow bed.
Her eyes were open.
Norah rushed to Lily.
"Oh, sweetheart."
Lily began sobbing.
"I thought nobody was coming."
Norah held her tightly.
"I'm here."
She cut the restraints using the safety cutter Marcus handed her.
Lily gripped her arm.
"They're going to kill Dominic."
Norah looked at her.
"Who?"
"Adrian."
Catherine stirred.
Her voice was weak.
"He knows."
Norah approached the bed.
"Catherine?"
The older woman's eyes filled with tears.
"You look like Evelyn."
Norah froze.
"You knew my mother?"
Catherine reached toward her.
"She saved my little girl."
Norah stared.
"What little girl?"
Catherine began trembling.
"She took the baby away before they could sell her."
Norah's breath caught.
"Who?"
Catherine looked toward Lily.
Then back at Norah.
"My daughter."
Lily slowly stopped crying.
Norah felt the room spin.
Catherine gripped her wrist.
"The baby was born twenty-three years ago."
Norah could barely breathe.
"Twenty-three?"
Catherine nodded.
"Your mother hid her."
Norah stared at the woman.
Then at Lily.
Then back at Catherine.
Twenty-three years earlier, Norah had been eight.
She remembered her mother returning home from the Ashcroft Hotel.
The bruises.
The fear.
The sudden decision to move apartments.
And the way Evelyn had cried whenever she saw news about the Mercer family.
Norah whispered, "Where is your daughter now?"
Catherine opened her mouth.
Before she could answer, gunfire erupted in the hallway.
Marcus shouted.
"DOWN!"
Norah threw herself over Lily.
The lights shattered.
A man screamed.
Then a familiar voice echoed through the darkness.
"Nobody leaves."
Adrian Mercer stepped into the doorway.
He held a gun.
And behind him stood Detective Daniel Cross.
May you like
Adrian smiled at Norah.
"Thank you for finding my mother."
