Chapter 3: The Woman Behind the Red Door
The fire alarm screamed through the hospital corridor.
Peter was on his feet before he knew he'd moved.
Drew flinched violently.
Lily cried out from the next room.
“Uncle Pete!””
Peter pushed through the doorway.
“I'm here!””
Smoke wasn't visible.
There was no fire.
But the hallway outside had erupted into chaos. Nurses hurried between rooms, patients were being wheeled away from the alarm zone, and the red emergency lights strobed across white walls.
Detective Hale appeared beside Peter.
“Stay with the children.””
“What about whoever came in?””
“I've got officers checking the entrances.””
Peter looked toward the stairwell.
The door was swinging shut.
Then he heard footsteps.
Fast.
Someone was running.
Hale drew his weapon and moved toward the stairs.
Peter grabbed his arm.
“Lily said someone was coming for them.””
“That's why you're staying here.””
Hale disappeared through the stairwell.
Peter went back into Drew's room and closed the door.
Lily was crying, her small body shaking beneath the blanket.
Peter rushed to her.
“Hey. Hey, I'm right here.””
She grabbed his shirt.
“She's here.””
Peter's blood went cold.
“Who?””
“Reena.””
Drew immediately shouted from the other room.
“Don't let her take Lily!””
Peter looked at the nurse.
“Lock the doors.””
The nurse's hands shook as she pushed the automatic lock button.
Peter's phone rang.
Unknown number.
He stared at it.
It rang again.
He answered.
“Where are you?””
Reena's voice came softly through the speaker.
“You took my children.””
Peter's expression hardened.
“They're not yours to hurt.””
“You don't understand what you're doing.””
“I understand exactly what I'm doing.””
“No, Peter. You don't.””
Her voice sounded strangely calm.
“Ask Drew why Aaron gave him that key.””
Peter looked toward his nephew.
“Tell me where you are.””
A pause.
Then Reena whispered, “Behind you.””
Peter turned so quickly his shoulder slammed into the wall.
No one stood there.
Only the nurse.
And an empty hallway visible through the narrow window.
Peter's heart pounded.
“You're lying.””
“I've never needed to lie to you.””
Peter almost laughed.
“You've spent three years doing nothing else.””
Reena exhaled slowly.
“You think Aaron was innocent.””
“He was my brother.””
“That isn't an answer.””
“You poisoned him.””
Silence.
Peter watched the nurse's face change.
“That's what you're going to tell the police?””
“That's what the evidence is going to show.””
Reena laughed once.
It was quiet.
Almost pitying.
“You still think evidence matters when people have already decided what they want to believe.””
“Where are you?””
“You should ask yourself why Aaron never told you about Lily's mother.””
Peter's eyes narrowed.
“Who is she?””
“You really don't know.””
“No.””
Reena went silent.
Then she said, “Look at the key.””
Peter glanced at the little brass key still in his hand.
“What about it?””
“Turn it over.””
He did.
There was another marking on the back.
A tiny number.
1427.
Peter felt his stomach drop.
The same address as Aaron's old house.
Reena spoke again.
“Now you understand.””
“Understand what?””
“That you're not looking for a room.””
The line crackled.
“You're looking for what Aaron hid.””
The call ended.
Peter stared at the phone.
Drew's voice broke the silence.
“Uncle Pete?””
Peter turned.
Drew was looking at the key.
“Dad said not to trust the front door.””
Peter slowly crossed the room.
“What did that mean?””
Drew swallowed.
“He said Reena would be waiting there.””
“Waiting where?””
“At the old house.””
Peter exchanged a look with Detective Hale's empty doorway.
“Did your dad tell you where to go?””
Drew nodded.
“He said go downstairs.””
Peter crouched beside the bed.
“To the basement?””
Drew nodded.
“There's another way.””
“What way?””
Drew closed his eyes, searching his memory.
“Behind the wall.””
Peter felt a chill.
“What wall?””
“The wall beside the red door.””
Lily suddenly spoke from her bed.
“There's a picture.””
Peter turned.
“What picture?””
“Daddy's picture.””
She pointed toward the window.
“He pushed it.””
“Pushed what?””
“The picture.””
Peter looked at Drew.
“Did you see it?””
Drew nodded.
“He said not to open it unless Reena tried to hurt us.””
Peter's mind raced.
Aaron hadn't been hiding a random key.
He had left instructions.
For his children.
He had anticipated danger.
Maybe even his own death.
A burst of static came from the hallway radio clipped to the nurse's belt.
“Unit two, west stairwell clear.””
Peter looked toward the door.
“No sign of anyone?””
The nurse shook her head.
Detective Hale returned a moment later.
“Whoever triggered the alarm is gone.””
Peter stared at him.
“She called me.””
Hale's eyes narrowed.
“Reena?””
“Yes.””
“What did she say?””
Peter told him.
When he finished, Hale took the key.
He studied the engraving.
“1427.””
“That was Aaron's old address.””
“I know.””
Peter looked at him.
“You knew?””
“We checked it after the photograph.””
“Then why didn't you go?””
“Because I wanted a warrant.””
Peter laughed bitterly.
“A warrant won't matter if Reena gets there first.””
Hale gave him the key back.
“We've got officers heading there now.””
Peter shook his head.
“She wants us to go there.””
“Maybe.””
“She told me to.””
“That could be bait.””
“Exactly.””
Hale looked toward Drew.
The boy was watching them.
“She knows something we don't,” Peter said.
Hale nodded.
“That much is obvious.””
Peter looked at the children.
“I need to know who Lily's mother is.””
Hale's expression became cautious.
“Drew could be confused.””
“He remembered the key.””
“He's six.””
“He also remembered the basement, the room, the lock, and what Aaron said.””
Hale didn't argue.
Peter turned to Lily.
“Sweetheart, who is your mommy?””
Lily stared at him.
“Mommy.””
“Yes.””
“She has red hair.””
Peter felt his chest tighten.
Aaron's wife had dark brown hair.
Reena had dark brown hair too.
“What's her name?””
Lily's brows knitted.
“She said her name was Emma.””
Peter froze.
Hale noticed.
“Do you know an Emma?””
Peter shook his head.
“No.””
His phone vibrated again.
A new message.
This time there was no photograph.
Only an address.
1427 Mercer Lane.
And beneath it:
SHE IS STILL THERE.
Peter looked up.
“We're going.””
Hale immediately shook his head.
“No. You are not.””
“Your officers are already on the way.””
“Exactly.””
“What if she's there?””
“What if it's a trap?””
Peter stepped closer.
“My nephew knows there is a hidden room.””
“He'll tell us everything.””
“He might not have time.””
Hale stared at him.
“What are you implying?””
Peter's voice dropped.
“Reena came after them once already. She won't stop because we put them in a hospital.””
Hale looked at the children.
Peter continued.
“She knows they're talking.””
The detective said nothing.
Finally, he nodded toward the corridor.
“I can take you under police protection.””
Peter nodded.
“That works.””
Within twenty minutes, two patrol cars escorted them to Mercer Lane.
Peter sat in the back seat beside Detective Hale.
The hospital had arranged for a pediatric nurse to remain with Drew and Lily, but Peter couldn't shake the feeling that leaving them behind was dangerous.
As the car turned onto Mercer Lane, Peter saw the house.
Brick.
Overgrown grass.
Broken mailbox.
And the red door.
He remembered it now.
Not clearly.
But enough.
Aaron had loved this place.
Before Reena.
Before the wedding.
Before everything changed.
Peter got out.
Police surrounded the property.
Hale stepped onto the porch and knocked.
Nothing.
He knocked again.
“Police department. We have a warrant to search the property.””
Silence.
Peter looked through one of the dusty windows.
A room.
Empty.
Then he saw it.
A photograph hanging crookedly on the wall.
Aaron.
Standing beside a young woman with bright red hair.
Peter's breath stopped.
“That's her.””
Hale turned.
“Who?””
“The woman Lily described.””
They broke the lock.
The door swung inward.
The house smelled of dust and old wood.
Hale moved first.
“Clear.””
Another officer called from the kitchen.
“Clear.””
Peter went toward the living room.
The photograph was still there.
He pulled it from the wall.
On the back was a date.
Six months before Aaron married Reena.
And three words.
EMMA KNOWS EVERYTHING.
Peter stared.
“Detective.””
Hale took the photograph.
His eyes moved over the writing.
“Who is Emma?””
Peter shook his head.
“I don't know.””
A loud thump sounded from upstairs.
Every officer raised their weapons.
Peter's heart slammed against his ribs.
Hale moved toward the staircase.
“Stay behind me.””
They climbed slowly.
Another thump.
Then a woman's voice.
“Peter?””
He stopped.
The voice was familiar.
Not because he knew her.
Because he had heard it before.
In a voicemail.
Years ago.
A voicemail Aaron had left him but which Peter had never listened to.
The recording had been buried in an old phone backup.
He remembered the voice at the end.
A woman crying.
Saying only one sentence.
“Please tell Peter the truth.””
Hale looked at him.
“You know that voice?””
Peter nodded slowly.
“Maybe.””
They reached the top floor.
A narrow hallway stretched before them.
At the end was another red door.
Peter stared at it.
His hand closed around the brass key.
“That's impossible.””
Hale looked around.
“The house has been altered.””
Peter walked toward the door.
His heartbeat grew louder.
He inserted the key.
It fit.
He turned it.
Click.
The door opened.
Inside was a small bedroom.
Dust covered everything.
A children's crib stood in the corner.
On the wall were photographs.
Dozens of them.
Aaron holding a baby.
Aaron beside Emma.
Aaron holding Lily.
Aaron holding Drew.
Dates were written beneath every photograph.
Peter walked closer.
His knees weakened.
The earliest photograph of Lily was dated three days after Aaron's wedding to Reena.
But Reena wasn't holding the baby.
Emma was.
Peter grabbed the photograph.
On the back was handwritten:
SHE WILL CALL HERSELF REENA'S DAUGHTER. SHE ISN'T.
Peter's breathing became shallow.
Then he saw the next photograph.
Aaron.
Emma.
A hospital bracelet around Emma's wrist.
And a newborn Lily asleep against her chest.
Beneath it:
THEY TOOK HER.
Peter looked at Hale.
“What does this mean?””
Before the detective could answer, they heard a noise from inside the wall.
A faint knock.
Three times.
Peter froze.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Hale raised his weapon.
“Who's there?””
Silence.
Peter stepped closer.
Then a woman's voice came through the wall.
Weak.
Barely audible.
“Peter?””
His blood turned cold.
He knew that voice now.
It was the same voice from Aaron's forgotten voicemail.
The voice said his name again.
“Peter... if you can hear me, don't trust the police officer beside you.””
Peter slowly turned.
Detective Hale's face had gone completely still.
Then Hale whispered:
“That's impossible.””
Peter looked between him and the hidden room.
The woman behind the wall began pounding.
“Please!””
Peter stepped backward.
“What happened?””
Her voice cracked.
“Reena didn't lock the children downstairs.””
Peter stared.
“What?””
“She locked me in here.””
Hale's radio suddenly erupted with static.
Then another officer's voice came through.
“Detective Hale, we have a problem.””
Hale lifted the radio.
“What?””
There was a pause.
Then:
“Your warrant number doesn't exist.””
Peter's eyes widened.
Hale looked at him.
And for the first time since they met, the detective looked afraid.
“Someone forged the warrant.””
Peter's gaze moved to the locked room.
To the woman trapped behind the wall.
To the photographs proving Aaron had known her.
And then his phone buzzed one final time.
A new message from Reena.
YOU FINALLY FOUND HER.
May you like
The next message appeared immediately.
NOW ASK HER WHAT SHE DID TO AARON.
