Chapter 2 - The Door Behind the Pantry.
The service passage smelled of cedar, old paint, and dust that had not been disturbed in years.
Adrian had grown up inside Vale House, yet he had never walked through that corridor.
Claire moved through it without hesitation.
That frightened him more than the broken windows behind them.
Nolan kept one hand on Adrian's arm as though Claire might turn around at any moment.
"Stop," Nolan said.
Claire continued another three steps before facing him.
"Not here."
"I said stop."
Claire's eyes moved to a narrow vent above Nolan's head.
"And I said not here."
A soft metallic click sounded somewhere behind the wall.
Claire pulled Adrian into a shallow alcove and pressed a finger to her lips.
Nolan started to protest, but footsteps passed on the other side of the panel they had just crossed.
Someone outside tried the pantry door.
The hidden corridor remained dark and silent.
Adrian watched Claire count the seconds without looking at a clock.
When the footsteps faded, she moved again.
"You knew this passage was here," Adrian said.
"Yes."
"How?"
"Later."
His temper finally broke through his fear.
"You have worked in my home for almost a year, you just picked up a rifle like it belonged in your hands, and you have a key to a sealed corridor."
Claire stopped at a fork in the passage.
"And you are still alive."
"That is not an answer."
"It is the only one that matters for the next five minutes."
Nolan stepped between them.
"Sir, she could be part of this."
Claire looked at Nolan's grey suit, then at the small tear near his left cuff.
"If I were part of it, you would not have reached this hallway."
Nolan's face hardened.
"You expect me to trust you?"
"No."
Claire turned to Adrian.
"I expect him to trust you."
Adrian did not understand until Claire pointed at Nolan's jacket pocket.
A faint blue light blinked through the fabric.
Nolan immediately reached inside and pulled out his phone.
The screen showed no call.
No message.
Just a tiny symbol Adrian did not recognize.
Claire did.
"Your security network is still connected to his device," she said.
Nolan looked offended.
"Of course it is."
"Which means anyone inside your system can see where this phone is."
Nolan's anger disappeared.
He shut the device down.
Claire shook her head.
"Too late."
A dull impact struck the service door far behind them.
Someone had found the entrance.
Claire moved faster now.
She led them down a steep staircase toward the lower level, but instead of entering the wine cellar, she stopped before a blank brick wall.
Adrian almost laughed from disbelief.
"There is nothing there."
Claire pressed one brick near the floor.
A thin wooden panel released beside the wall.
Nolan stared at her.
"Who gave you the house plans?"
Claire opened the panel.
"A woman who knew this house better than Adrian ever did."
Adrian froze.
Only one person had ever said that exact phrase to him.
His older sister, Evelyn.
Evelyn had died two years earlier after a late-night highway accident.
For months before that night, she had warned Adrian that somebody inside Vale Meridian was stealing more than money.
Adrian had dismissed her fears as exhaustion.
He had regretted it every day since.
Claire stepped through the panel.
Adrian did not move.
"Did you know my sister?"
Claire looked back at him.
For the first time, her calm expression cracked.
Not with fear.
With grief.
"Yes."
Nolan glanced between them.
"Sir, we need to keep moving."
Adrian ignored him.
"How well?"
Claire's answer came quietly.
"Well enough that she asked me to come here if anything ever happened to her."
The impact behind them came again, louder this time.
Claire opened the hidden door wider.
"If you want to know why your house is under attack tonight, come with me."
Adrian stepped through.
"And if I do?"
May you like
Claire closed the panel behind him.
"Then you are going to learn what your sister was trying to tell you."
