Chapter 12 - The Call From The Basement.
Judge Samuel Keene lived in a guarded retirement community forty miles north of the city.
He had not seen Eleanor Vale in almost five years.
Yet at 4:17 that afternoon, she appeared at his home unannounced.
She told his caretaker she needed five minutes.
Then she ordered the caretaker to leave the room.
Judge Keene called the hospital from a landline hidden inside his study desk.
His voice was calm, but he spoke in short sentences.
"Adrian, your mother is here."
Adrian stepped into the secure family room and put the call on speaker for Ortiz.
"Are you safe?"
"For the moment."
"Why is she there?"
"She wants the notarized trust amendment."
Victor closed his eyes.
"Of course she does."
Judge Keene continued.
"She believes I keep it in my home safe."
"Do you?"
"No."
Adrian almost smiled despite everything.
"Where is it?"
"Somewhere she cannot burn."
Ortiz wrote a note and handed it to Rafael.
Police units were already moving toward Keene's residence.
Then another voice sounded in the background.
Eleanor.
"Samuel?"
Judge Keene lowered his voice.
"I have to go."
The line disconnected.
Adrian stared at the phone.
Victor stood abruptly.
"She'll hurt him."
"You said she only intimidates people."
Victor looked ashamed.
"I was wrong."
Ortiz ordered Victor to remain under guard.
Adrian wanted to go with the police.
He looked through the glass at Emma's bed.
He could not leave her.
That was the trap his mother had always understood.
Family loyalty could be turned into paralysis.
Rafael remained in the hospital while Ortiz left for Judge Keene's house.
Mason was temporarily relieved of duty pending the internal investigation.
He accepted the decision without argument.
Before leaving, he stopped beside Adrian.
"I failed you."
Adrian did not answer.
Mason nodded once.
"But I didn't betray you."
Adrian looked at him.
"I hope that's true."
Mason walked away.
Noah returned to Emma's side.
He had changed out of his suit jacket but still wore the white shirt and loosened black tie.
He climbed into the chair and rested his head beside her arm.
"Mom, everybody keeps leaving."
Adrian sat beside him.
"I'm not leaving."
Noah looked up.
"Promise?"
"Promise."
The room remained quiet for nearly twenty minutes.
Then Adrian's phone rang from an unknown number.
He answered cautiously.
No one spoke.
He heard breathing.
Then a metallic scraping sound.
"Hello?"
A man's voice whispered.
"Mr. Vale?"
Adrian straightened.
"Who is this?"
"Daniel Brooks."
Adrian did not recognize the name.
The man sounded terrified.
"I worked maintenance at Vale House."
Rafael moved closer and began recording the call.
"Why are you calling me?"
"Because Mrs. Vale told me to."
Adrian looked at Emma.
"Emma?"
"She gave me a number and said if anything happened to her, I should call after the library was opened."
"Where are you?"
The man breathed shakily.
"In the basement under the old east wing."
Adrian frowned.
"Vale House has no basement under that wing."
"That's what everyone thinks."
The scraping sound returned.
"There is a service level beneath the foundation."
Rafael opened a floor plan on his tablet.
Nothing showed beneath the east wing.
"What's down there?" Adrian asked.
Daniel whispered.
"Records."
"What kind?"
"Medical files."
Adrian felt cold.
"Whose?"
"Your father's."
Victor, still visible through the interior glass, saw Adrian's face and moved closer to the door.
Daniel continued.
"And other people who worked for your mother."
"Why haven't you gone to police?"
"Because someone is in the house."
Adrian looked at Rafael.
Ortiz's team had supposedly secured Vale House.
"Police are there."
"Not police."
Daniel's voice dropped even lower.
"I heard someone unlock the basement door."
A heavy metal sound came through the phone.
Daniel stopped breathing.
Adrian heard footsteps.
Slow.
Measured.
Coming closer.
"Daniel, get out."
"There's only one stairway."
"Hide."
"There's nowhere."
The footsteps stopped.
A woman's voice echoed faintly through the phone.
"Daniel?"
Adrian recognized it instantly.
Margaret Haines.
The missing attorney.
Daniel whispered one final sentence.
May you like
"She found me."
The call went dead.
