PART 6 — THE LITTLE GIRL BEHIND THE RED DOOR
“Sophie.”
The name escaped Laura’s lips like a secret she had spent years trying to bury.
Her eyes were wide with terror.
Her fingers tightened around the hospital blanket.
And for the first time since my wife had been brought back from the edge of death, I saw something in her expression that frightened me more than anything else.
Recognition.
She knew the little girl.
The child my son had just discovered inside a flooded underground room.
“Laura,” I whispered, “who is Sophie?”
My wife shook her head.
Tears streamed down her cheeks.
“Michael, please.”
“Please what?”
She looked toward Detective Morgan, then back at me.
“Get Ethan out of there.”
“We’re trying. But I need to understand what’s happening.”
Laura began trembling.
“If Sophie’s really there, then everything my father told me was a lie.”
I felt my stomach twist.
“What did he tell you?”
She closed her eyes.
“That she was dead.”
For a moment, the entire hospital room seemed to stop moving.
I stared at my wife.
“Who was dead?”
Laura opened her mouth.
But before she could answer, Detective Morgan’s radio crackled.
“Command, this is Unit Seven. Water is rising inside the lower passage. The child and adult male are trapped beyond an interior barrier.”
Morgan immediately raised the radio.
“Are they injured?”
“Both conscious. The adult appears weak. We need technical rescue personnel and equipment to open the barrier safely.”
I grabbed the edge of Laura’s bed.
“Ethan!”
The radio crackled again.
Then I heard my son’s voice.
“Daddy?”
My throat tightened.
“I’m here, buddy!”
A police officer spoke in the background.
“Ethan, keep talking to your father. We’re working to get you out.”
My son began crying.
“Daddy, I’m scared.”
I felt tears spilling down my face.
“I know, sweetheart. I know. But listen to the officers, okay? They’re going to help you.”
“The water is touching my shoes.”
I looked desperately at Detective Morgan.
She was already giving instructions over the radio.
Then Ethan whispered something.
“Daddy, the little girl is scared too.”
I froze.
“Is she with you?”
“Yes.”
“Can you see her?”
A pause.
Then he answered.
“She’s behind the red door.”
Laura made a broken sound.
“No.”
I looked at her.
“What?”
My wife was staring at the radio.
“She can’t still be there.”
I gripped her hand.
“Laura, who is she?”
My wife looked at me with eyes full of pain.
Then she whispered, “My sister.”
I couldn’t breathe.
“Your what?”
Laura began sobbing.
“My little sister, Sophie.”
I stared at her.
For eleven years, I had been married to Laura Walker.
I knew her childhood stories.
I knew about Daniel.
I knew about the beautiful old lake house where she’d spent her summers.
I knew her father had been demanding and her mother controlling.
But never once had she mentioned a little sister.
“Laura,” I said carefully, “you’ve never told me you had another sister.”
She covered her face.
“Because everyone told me she died.”
“When?”
“Twenty-two years ago.”
I felt the room spin.
“Twenty-two years?”
Laura nodded.
“She was only four.”
I stared at her.
“Then how could there be a little girl in that basement now?”
Laura’s face crumpled.
“I don’t know.”
Detective Morgan stepped closer.
“Laura, we need you to explain what happened to Sophie.”
My wife took a shaky breath.
“When I was fourteen, my mother told me Sophie had drowned at the lake house.”
I swallowed.
“Drowned?”
“She said Sophie wandered outside during a family gathering. They found her near the dock.”
“Did you see her?”
Laura shook her head.
“No. I was staying with my grandmother that weekend.”
“Was there a funeral?”
“Yes.”
My entire body went cold.
Another funeral.
Another supposedly dead family member.
Another story controlled by the Bennett family.
I looked toward Detective Morgan.
She was writing quickly.
“Was Sophie’s death officially documented?” she asked.
Laura nodded.
“My parents said it was.”
“Did you ever see the records?”
“No.”
Morgan looked at me.
I could tell she was thinking the same thing.
What if Sophie had never died?
What if the funeral had been another lie?
But even if Sophie had survived, she would be twenty-six now.
Not a little girl.
Something didn’t make sense.
Before I could ask, the radio crackled again.
“Unit Seven, we have a female voice coming from behind the interior door.”
Morgan raised the radio.
“Can you confirm an additional person?”
“Not visually. The door has a small reinforced window, but visibility is limited.”
“What do you hear?”
A pause.
Then the officer answered.
“A female voice asking for Laura.”
My blood turned cold.
Laura began shaking.
Detective Morgan spoke calmly.
“Can you estimate her age?”
“Unable to determine. Voice sounds young, but there’s substantial echo.”
I gripped the radio.
“Can she hear us?”
The officer hesitated.
“We can attempt communication.”
I looked at Laura.
She was staring at me.
“Michael,” she whispered, “ask her something.”
“What?”
“Ask her what Sophie called me when we were little.”
I raised the radio.
“Officer, can you ask the girl behind the door what she used to call Laura?”
Static filled the room.
Then silence.
Several seconds passed.
I could hear my own heartbeat.
Finally, the radio crackled.
The officer’s voice returned.
“She says Laura was her sunshine.”
Laura burst into tears.
“Oh, God.”
I turned toward her.
“What does that mean?”
She pressed her hand against her mouth.
“When Sophie was little, she couldn’t pronounce my name properly. She called me Sunshine because I used to sing a song about the sun every morning.”
My chest tightened.
Only someone who knew Sophie could have answered that.
But who was behind the red door?
Then Laura whispered something that made the entire room go silent.
“Ask her about the yellow blanket.”
I swallowed.
“The what?”
“The yellow blanket with embroidered flowers. Sophie took it everywhere.”
I relayed the question.
A minute passed.
Then the officer answered.
“She says she still has it.”
Laura stopped breathing.
The officer continued.
“She says it’s in a wooden box beneath her bed.”
My wife began sobbing uncontrollably.
I held her shoulders.
“Laura, sweetheart, please.”
She looked at me.
“Michael, that’s Sophie.”
“But she’s not four years old anymore.”
“I know.”
“Then why does Ethan think she’s a little girl?”
Laura stared at me.
Then something changed in her expression.
Her eyes widened.
“No.”
“What?”
She began shaking her head.
“No, no, no.”
“Laura?”
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
“Robert used to tell us Sophie would always be his little girl.”
I stared at her.
“And?”
“He controlled everything about her. Her clothes. Her toys. The people she could speak to.”
A horrible thought entered my mind.
“What if whoever is down there has been kept isolated for years?”
Laura covered her mouth.
Detective Morgan looked deeply concerned.
“We need to let the rescue team establish her identity before drawing conclusions.”
She was right.
But I could see the same fear in Laura’s eyes.
What if the sister she had mourned for twenty-two years had been alive all along?
And what if someone had kept her hidden?
Then my phone vibrated.
Another message from the unknown number.
YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT THE RED DOOR CLOSED.
I stared at it.
A second message appeared.
THERE ARE SECRETS YOUR WIFE HASN’T TOLD YOU.
My hands began shaking.
Then a photograph loaded.
It showed a hospital record.
The document was old, yellowed, and partially damaged.
But I could read the name at the top.
SOPHIA BENNETT.
Date of birth: June 14, 2000.
My heart pounded.
Sophie would be twenty-six.
The next line made me grip the phone.
PATIENT STATUS: TRANSFERRED TO PRIVATE CARE.
Not deceased.
Transferred.
And the date?
The same month the Bennett family had supposedly buried their youngest daughter.
I showed the screen to Detective Morgan.
She studied it carefully.
“We’ll need to verify whether this is authentic.”
Laura stared at the photograph.
Her face went white.
“That’s her.”
I looked at her.
“How do you know?”
“The spelling. My father always called her Sophie, but her legal name was Sophia.”
Then another photograph arrived.
This one showed a young woman seated beside a window.
She had long dark hair.
Large brown eyes.
And a small birthmark beneath her chin.
Laura made a sound I had never heard from her before.
It was half scream.
Half sob.
“That’s Sophie.”
I stared at the photograph.
The young woman looked strikingly like Laura.
The same eyes.
The same cheekbones.
The same gentle expression.
But there was something else.
Her clothing looked old-fashioned.
A pale yellow dress.
White socks.
A blue ribbon in her hair.
She was holding a worn stuffed rabbit.
Like a child.
I looked at Laura.
“Why is she dressed like that?”
Laura began crying harder.
“I don’t know.”
Then Detective Morgan’s radio crackled.
“Command, the trapped male has provided additional information.”
Morgan raised the radio.
“Go ahead.”
“He says the red room contains Sophia Bennett.”
Laura stopped crying.
She stared at the radio.
The officer continued.
“He says she’s twenty-six years old.”
I closed my eyes.
It was true.
Sophie was alive.
But the officer wasn’t finished.
“He says she’s been held in isolation for years.”
My stomach turned.
Laura pressed her hands against her face.
“No.”
The officer continued.
“He says Robert used her as leverage against members of the Bennett family.”
Detective Morgan’s expression hardened.
“Does the male identify himself as Thomas Reed?”
“Affirmative.”
“Can he explain his own circumstances?”
A pause.
Then the officer replied.
“He says he’s been living under another identity for six years.”
I stared at the radio.
Thomas Reed.
The man whose body had supposedly been buried under Robert Bennett’s name.
Now alive.
Inside the same underground room as my son.
Nothing about the Bennett family was what it seemed.
Then an urgent voice broke through the radio.
“Water level increasing! We need access to the inner passage immediately!”
My heart slammed against my ribs.
“Ethan!”
Morgan raised the radio.
“What’s the status of rescue personnel?”
“They’re positioning equipment now.”
I looked at the clock.
Every minute mattered.
Then the officer spoke again.
“Command, the adult male says there’s a manual release mechanism in the boathouse.”
Morgan leaned forward.
“Where?”
“Beneath the eastern floorboards. He says it opens a drainage channel.”
Laura suddenly grabbed my wrist.
“Michael!”
I turned.
“What?”
“The fourth plank.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
“The fourth plank beside the old boat lift.”
She looked desperately at Detective Morgan.
“When we were children, Daniel and I used to play there. My father kept a maintenance compartment beneath the floor.”
Morgan immediately relayed the information.
Then Laura added, “The handle is painted green.”
I repeated it.
The officer confirmed.
“We’ll check.”
For several seconds, the room was silent except for Laura’s monitor and the distant hospital alarms.
Then the radio crackled.
“We found it!”
My knees nearly gave out.
Morgan spoke quickly.
“Can you operate it?”
“Stand by. Checking the mechanism.”
A pause.
Metal scraped.
Then the officer shouted.
“Drainage gate is moving!”
I covered my mouth.
“Please.”
Another voice came through.
“Water is beginning to recede!”
Laura started crying again.
This time, relief.
I held her hand.
“They’re getting him out.”
But just as hope returned, the radio erupted with shouting.
“STOP!”
A loud crash followed.
Then frantic voices.
“Officer down! Officer down!”
My heart stopped.
“What happened?” Morgan demanded.
Static.
Then someone shouted.
“We have an armed suspect near the boathouse!”
I staggered backward.
Robert.
He was still there.
Morgan immediately spoke into the radio.
“Maintain cover! Protect the child! Do not advance into an unsafe position!”
Laura began trembling.
“Michael, please.”
I gripped her hand.
“I know.”
The radio crackled again.
“Suspect moving toward the service tunnel!”
Another voice shouted.
“Police! Drop it!”
Then a sharp sound echoed through the speaker.
A gunshot.
Laura screamed.
I froze.
For several seconds, no one answered.
Then Morgan spoke.
“Unit Seven, report!”
Silence.
“Unit Seven!”
Finally, a breathless voice came through.
“Suspect retreated. One officer injured, conscious. Medical assistance requested.”
I exhaled shakily.
“And the child?” Morgan asked.
“Still trapped behind the interior barrier.”
My hope collapsed.
Then another officer shouted.
“We have movement at the red door!”
Laura stopped breathing.
I grabbed the edge of the bed.
“What’s happening?”
Morgan listened.
“Repeat.”
“The interior door is opening!”
My heart hammered.
“Who opened it?”
The officer hesitated.
Then answered.
“The child.”
My entire body went cold.
Ethan.
My seven-year-old son.
He had found the key inside the teddy bear.
And now he’d opened the door everyone had warned him never to touch.
“Ethan!” I shouted into the radio. “Buddy, listen to me!”
A small voice answered.
“Daddy?”
“Move away from the door!”
“But Daddy, the lady needs help.”
I squeezed my eyes shut.
“Let the officers help her.”
“She said she knows Mommy.”
“I know, sweetheart.”
“Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“She’s crying.”
My throat tightened.
“It’s okay, buddy.”
Then Ethan said something that made Laura sit upright.
“She looks like Mommy.”
A terrible silence followed.
My wife covered her mouth.
I looked at her.
“It’s Sophie,” I whispered.
But Ethan continued.
“Daddy, she keeps saying something.”
“What?”
“She says Mommy promised she would come back.”
Laura began sobbing.
“I did.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
She covered her face.
“I promised Sophie I’d come back for her.”
I felt the world tilt.
“Laura, when?”
She shook her head.
“After I discovered she was alive.”
I stared at her.
“You already knew?”
Tears poured down her cheeks.
“Michael, please let me explain.”
I stepped backward.
“How long?”
She closed her eyes.
“Three weeks.”
I couldn’t speak.
Three weeks.
For three weeks, Laura had known her supposedly dead sister was alive.
She had discovered an underground room.
She had hidden evidence inside Ethan’s toy car.
And she had told me nothing.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I whispered.
“Because Robert threatened you.”
I stared at her.
“What did he say?”
She swallowed.
“He said if I involved you, he’d make sure you and Ethan disappeared.”
I looked toward the radio.
And now Ethan was missing.
Exactly as Robert had threatened.
I could barely control my emotions.
“Laura, your father took our son.”
“I know.”
“Because he wanted the evidence!”
“I know!”
She began crying.
“I thought I could find Sophie and get proof without putting either of you in danger.”
My voice cracked.
“You should have trusted me.”
Laura looked away.
“I should have.”
Before I could respond, Detective Morgan’s radio erupted.
“Command, the child has exited the inner room!”
My heart stopped.
“Ethan?”
“Affirmative! We’re moving him toward the boathouse.”
I covered my face.
Thank God.
Then the officer continued.
“Adult female is following. She appears disoriented but ambulatory.”
Laura began crying.
“Sophie.”
Morgan raised the radio.
“What about Thomas Reed?”
“He’s assisting the woman.”
“And the suspect?”
“Still unaccounted for.”
I felt my stomach tighten.
Robert was somewhere inside the property.
Armed.
Desperate.
And now his secrets were walking out into the open.
Then the officer shouted.
“Wait!”
My heart slammed against my ribs.
“What?”
The radio crackled.
“There’s another person in the tunnel!”
Detective Morgan leaned forward.
“Identify.”
“We can’t see clearly. Adult male approaching from the lower passage.”
I held my breath.
Another voice shouted.
“Police! Show your hands!”
A pause.
Then the officer spoke again.
“He’s cooperating.”
Morgan asked, “Is it Robert Bennett?”
“No.”
I frowned.
“Then who?”
The officer hesitated.
“He says his name is Dr. Nathaniel Brooks.”
I stared at the radio.
Brooks?
The doctor who had certified Laura dead.
The man reported unconscious at a clinic outside Maplewood.
How could he be inside the tunnel?
Morgan looked equally stunned.
“Confirm his identity.”
The officer replied.
“Stand by.”
A long pause followed.
Then another voice came over the radio.
“We have visual confirmation. The male resembles Brooks, but he appears older and has facial injuries.”
I stared at Laura.
Her eyes widened.
Then she whispered something.
“That’s not Nathaniel.”
I turned.
“What?”
She began shaking.
“Nathaniel Brooks has a brother.”
A chill moved through me.
“A brother?”
Laura nodded.
“An identical twin.”
The room fell silent.
Detective Morgan stared at her.
“What’s his name?”
Laura swallowed.
“Adrian.”
I felt my stomach twist.
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
“I didn’t know he was involved.”
Morgan raised her radio.
“Ask the male to state his full name.”
Seconds passed.
Then the response came.
“He says he’s Dr. Adrian Brooks.”
I looked at Laura.
She was trembling.
But then the officer continued.
“He says he has information regarding Robert Bennett’s death.”
Morgan froze.
“Ask him who is buried in Robert’s grave.”
A pause.
Then the answer came.
“He says the remains belong to Thomas Reed’s brother.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
Daniel had followed us into the room.
He covered his mouth.
“Thomas had a brother?”
Margaret had never mentioned one.
Laura looked stunned.
The officer continued.
“Adrian says Thomas Reed’s younger brother, Andrew, was killed six years ago.”
A terrible silence followed.
I looked at Morgan.
“And Robert?”
The officer answered.
“Adrian claims Robert was killed the same night.”
I stared at the radio.
“Then who is the man holding Ethan?”
Laura began shaking.
The officer continued.
“Adrian says the man impersonating Robert Bennett has been using his identity for six years.”
I couldn’t breathe.
The photographs.
The family business.
Margaret’s confessions.
Everything suddenly felt uncertain.
“Who is he?” Morgan demanded.
A pause.
Then the officer replied.
“Adrian says his real name is Victor Hale.”
Margaret suddenly collapsed into a chair.
Daniel stared at her.
“Mom?”
She covered her face.
“No.”
I turned toward her.
“You know that name?”
Margaret began shaking uncontrollably.
Then she whispered:
“Victor was Robert’s business partner.”
My heart hammered.
“His business partner?”
She nodded.
“The one Robert accused of stealing from the company.”
I stepped closer.
“Why would Victor pretend to be Robert?”
Margaret looked directly at me.
Then she said something that chilled me.
“Because Victor looked almost exactly like him.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
She swallowed.
“Robert and Victor were half brothers.”
Silence.
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
Two brothers.
Two nearly identical faces.
One dead.
One pretending to be the other.
And for six years, the entire Bennett family had been trapped inside a lie.
Then Detective Morgan’s radio crackled.
“Command, we have confirmation the child has reached the outer tunnel.”
I nearly collapsed.
“Is he safe?”
“Almost. Rescue personnel are moving him toward the boathouse exit.”
My eyes filled with tears.
“Come on, Ethan.”
Then the officer shouted.
“Hold position!”
My heart stopped.
“What’s wrong?”
The radio erupted with frantic voices.
“We have an individual blocking the exit!”
Morgan grabbed her radio.
“Identify!”
A pause.
Then came the answer.
“Adult male. Silver hair. Dark suit.”
My blood turned cold.
Victor Hale.
The man pretending to be Robert Bennett.
He was standing between my son and freedom.
Then another voice came over the radio.
It was calm.
Deep.
And horribly familiar.
“Michael Walker.”
I froze.
The man had taken a radio from somewhere.
“Victor?” I whispered.
He laughed.
“So Laura finally told you.”
I gripped the edge of the hospital bed.
“Let my son go.”
“I’m afraid it’s not that simple.”
“Please,” I whispered. “He’s only seven.”
Victor’s voice hardened.
“Then perhaps your wife should have remembered that before she started digging into the past.”
Laura began sobbing.
I looked toward Morgan.
She was coordinating the response, warning the officers to maintain their positions.
Then Victor spoke again.
“Michael, there’s something you need to know about your wife.”
I swallowed.
“I’m listening.”
“She didn’t discover my identity three weeks ago.”
I looked at Laura.
Her face turned white.
Victor chuckled.
“She knew long before that.”
I felt my stomach twist.
“How long?”
Laura shook her head.
“Michael, don’t listen to him.”
Victor laughed.
“Ask her about the letter she received seven years ago.”
Seven years.
Before Ethan was born.
Before Robert’s supposed funeral.
Before everything.
I looked at my wife.
“What letter?”
Laura began crying.
“Michael, please.”
My heart hammered.
“What letter?”
Victor continued.
“Ask her why she visited the lake house the night before our little family arranged Robert Bennett’s funeral.”
I felt sick.
Laura had told me she was visiting her grandmother that weekend.
She’d said she hadn’t been anywhere near the lake house.
But now Victor was suggesting otherwise.
I stared at her.
“Laura?”
Her face crumpled.
“I was there.”
I couldn’t breathe.
“You were at the lake house?”
She nodded.
“The night Robert died?”
Another nod.
I stepped backward.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
She began sobbing.
“Because I saw something.”
“What?”
She covered her face.
“I saw Victor kill my father.”
The room fell silent.
Even Victor stopped speaking.
For one impossible moment, nobody moved.
Then Laura whispered:
“And I saw my mother help him hide the body.”
I turned toward Margaret.
She stood in the doorway, frozen.
Her face had gone completely white.
Daniel stared at her.
“Mom?”
Margaret took a step backward.
“No.”
Laura pointed a trembling finger toward her.
“You told me to forget what I saw.”
Margaret shook her head.
“You were confused.”
“You threatened me!”
Her voice cracked.
“You said if I told Michael, Victor would kill him!”
I stared at my mother-in-law.
For six years, she’d claimed to be a grieving widow.
For six years, she’d concealed the truth.
And now Laura was accusing her of helping cover up her own husband’s murder.
Detective Morgan stepped toward Margaret.
“Margaret Bennett, I need you to come with me.”
Margaret began crying.
“Please, I can explain.”
Morgan’s expression didn’t change.
“You’ll have an opportunity to provide a full statement.”
Then the radio crackled again.
Victor’s voice returned.
“Enough family drama.”
My stomach tightened.
“Victor, please.”
He laughed softly.
“Your son has been very brave, Michael.”
I closed my eyes.
“Don’t hurt him.”
“Unfortunately, brave children sometimes learn things adults desperately want hidden.”
My heart slammed against my ribs.
“What are you saying?”
Victor paused.
Then he spoke six words.
“Ethan knows where Robert is buried.”
I stared at the radio.
“What?”
“He found something in the red room.”
My mouth went dry.
“The evidence?”
Victor laughed.
“Something far more valuable.”
A pause.
Then he said:
“Your son found the original recording.”
I turned toward Laura.
Her eyes widened.
“What recording?”
Victor’s voice became cold.
“The one showing exactly what happened the night Robert died.”
Laura covered her mouth.
I felt my heart racing.
“Then let the police have it!”
“Oh, they will,” Victor replied.
A terrible silence followed.
“Just not the version you expect.”
Then the radio crackled.
A child screamed.
“DADDY!”
My entire world stopped.
“ETHAN!”
A loud crash echoed through the speaker.
Officers shouted.
Someone yelled for medical assistance.
And then the transmission went dead.
I stood frozen.
Laura began screaming my son’s name.
Detective Morgan shouted into her radio.
“Unit Seven! Report!”
No answer.
“Unit Seven, respond!”
Static.
My hands shook.
I couldn’t breathe.
Then, finally, a voice came through.
“Command… we have the child.”
I nearly collapsed.
“Is he alive?”
A pause.
Then the officer answered.
“He’s conscious.”
Tears spilled down my face.
“Thank God.”
But the officer wasn’t finished.
“He’s holding something.”
Morgan leaned forward.
“What?”
A pause.
Then came the answer.
“A small waterproof recording device.”
I stared at Laura.
Her mouth fell open.
The officer continued.
“The child says the man who gave it to him told him not to let Victor touch it.”
My heart pounded.
“Who gave it to him?”
The officer hesitated.
Then answered.
“Thomas Reed.”
I looked at Laura.
Then Morgan asked the question that mattered most.
“Where is Thomas now?”
Static crackled.
The officer replied.
“He stayed behind in the tunnel.”
My stomach tightened.
“Why?”
Another pause.
Then the officer said:
“Because Thomas says someone is still trapped behind the red door.”
I froze.
“But Sophie came out!”
The officer answered.
“Yes.”
I gripped the radio.
“Then who is still inside?”
A terrible silence followed.
Then the officer whispered:
“A man who claims he is the real Robert Bennett.”
I couldn’t move.
Laura stared at me.
Her lips parted.
“No.”
The officer continued.
“He says Victor has kept him imprisoned for six years.”
I felt the room spinning.
A dead man.
An impostor.
A false burial.
And now a prisoner claiming to be the man we’d mourned.
Before anyone could speak, another transmission came through.
This time, from the rescue team.
“Command, we’re at the red door. There’s a man inside, but he’s barely conscious.”
Morgan raised her radio.
“Can you identify him?”
A pause.
Then the officer answered.
“We have a name.”
My heart hammered.
“What name?”
And the answer left every person in the hospital room speechless.
“He says his name is Robert Bennett. And he says his daughter Laura is the only person who knows why he was locked inside.”
Laura dropped her head into her hands.
I turned toward her.
“Sweetheart?”
She slowly looked up.
Tears streamed down her cheeks.
Then she whispered something that made my blood run cold.
“Michael… I know why he was locked in there.”
I couldn’t speak.
She swallowed.
“Because I’m the one who locked the door.”
END OF PART 6 — TO BE CONTINUED…
