Chapter 4 - The Photograph in the Locked Drawer
By midnight, Mercer House felt less like a mansion and more like a crime scene.
The remaining staff had been dismissed to their quarters.
Noah refused to leave Marina.
Whenever Logan attempted to carry him upstairs, the child cried.
So Logan stopped trying.
He arranged blankets on the library sofa.
Marina sat beside Noah until his breathing slowed.
Logan remained across the room.
Watching.
Waiting.
Remembering.
Elena had always hummed when Noah slept.
A melody with no words.
One Elena claimed her grandmother had taught her.
Marina began humming.
Logan’s head snapped upward.
“Stop.”
Marina froze.
“What?”
“That song.”
“What song?”
“The one you were humming.”
She looked confused.
“I didn’t realize I was.”
Logan walked toward her.
“Where did you hear it?”
“I don’t know.”
Elena had never recorded it.
She had never played it publicly.
Logan himself had forgotten the melody until that moment.
His knees almost gave out.
He sat beside the fireplace.
Marina looked frightened.
“What if I am her?”
Logan could not answer.
“What if I’m not?”
She continued.
“That frightens me more.”
Logan finally met her eyes.
“Why?”
“Because your son believes I am.”
Noah shifted beneath the blanket.
His tiny fingers remained wrapped around Marina’s sleeve.
“And whatever Vanessa knows, she knows enough to be afraid.”
Upstairs, Vanessa was doing exactly what Logan feared.
She entered the master guest suite and locked the door.
Then she pulled the dresser away from the wall.
Behind it was a small digital safe.
Her hands shook as she typed the code.
Inside were passports.
Cash.
A burner phone.
And an old photograph.
Vanessa picked it up.
Elena Mercer stood beside Blackwater Lake holding baby Noah.
Behind her was a woman wearing sunglasses.
Vanessa.
Someone had written a date on the back.
Three days before Elena disappeared.
Vanessa tore the photograph in half.
Then she grabbed the burner phone.
She typed one message.
SHE IS ALIVE.
The reply came almost immediately.
IMPOSSIBLE.
Vanessa stared at the screen.
IT IS HER.
Another pause.
Then three words appeared.
FINISH IT TONIGHT.
Vanessa deleted the messages.
She opened her bedroom door.
Marcus was standing in the hallway.
“Ms. Cruz.”
She smiled.
“You frightened me.”
“You asked earlier if you could leave.”
“I changed my mind.”
Marcus looked toward the safe behind her.
Vanessa casually moved into the doorway.
“Is there something you need?”
“No.”
Marcus’s gaze lowered.
A torn piece of photograph lay near Vanessa’s heel.
She stepped backward and covered it.
Marcus pretended not to notice.
“Good night.”
He walked away.
Vanessa closed the door.
Ten minutes later Marcus entered the security office.
He pulled up the hallway camera.
Zoomed in.
And froze the frame.
The photograph beneath Vanessa’s shoe showed half a face.
Elena Mercer’s face.
Marcus immediately called Logan.
May you like
“Sir.”
“I think you need to see something.”
