Chapter 8: The Basement Door Opens
I didn’t accuse Hayes.
Not immediately.
Because twelve years of unanswered questions had taught me one thing.
The first person who looks guilty is not always the person who did it.
Sometimes they are just the person carrying the most secrets.
“You saw him,” I said.
Hayes didn’t deny it.
“Yes.””
“When?””
“The night he disappeared.””
My hands curled into fists.
“You told me you never found him.””
“I found him.””
The words were almost a whisper.
“Then where was he?””
Hayes closed his eyes.
“At an abandoned farmhouse outside town.””
My stomach dropped.
“He was alive?””
“Yes.””
“Then why didn’t you bring him back?””
The question came out louder than I intended.
Hayes looked broken.
“Because when I arrived, Rachel was there.””
“Rachel.””
“Yes.””
“And David?””
Hayes didn’t answer.
That was answer enough.
I stood.
“My husband took a child.””
“Laura—”
“No.””
My voice shook.
“No more half-truths.””
Hayes looked down.
“I saw Rachel and David arguing.””
My breath caught.
“You saw my husband?””
“Yes.””
“What were they saying?””
Hayes swallowed.
“I couldn’t hear everything.””
“Try.””
He looked at me.
“Rachel said, ‘You promised nobody would find out.’”
The room went silent.
“And David?””
Hayes’s voice dropped.
“He said, ‘Then make sure she forgets.’”
I felt sick.
“She?””
Hayes looked at me.
“I assumed he meant you.””
The words were almost impossible to understand.
My own husband.
The father of my child.
The person who slept beside me for years.
Someone who knew how to make me forget.
Then I remembered something.
Something tiny.
Something I had ignored.
After Kai disappeared, I had been sick for weeks.
Headaches.
Missing memories.
I had blamed stress.
Grief.
Trauma.
But what if…
No.
I refused to finish the thought.
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
Again.
This time, I answered.
“Kai?””
A pause.
Then his voice.
“Not Kai.””
I froze.
“Who is this?””
A woman answered.
Older.
Calm.
“Laura, you need to stop looking.””
My entire body went cold.
“Rachel.””
Silence.
Then a quiet laugh.
“So he told you.””
“Where is my son?””
“Your son?””
Her voice changed.
“No, Laura. That’s the problem. You still think this is about Ethan.””
I gripped the phone.
“What do you want?””
“I want you to stop pretending you’re the victim.””
The words hurt because they sounded rehearsed.
“I lost a child.””
“No.””
Her voice became sharper.
“You lost a memory.””
I looked at Hayes.
He was watching me carefully.
“What did you do to me?””
A pause.
Then Rachel said:
“I didn’t do anything.””
“Then who did?””
Another pause.
And then:
“Ask David.””
My heart stopped.
“David is dead.””
“I know.””
The way she said it made my blood freeze.
“You think his death ended the story.””
The line crackled.
“It only removed the person who could tell you what happened.””
I looked around my house.
The place where I raised my son.
The place where I trusted everyone.
Then Rachel whispered:
“Go to your basement.””
My throat tightened.
“Why?””
“Because that’s where he kept everything.””
The call ended.
I didn’t move.
Hayes stared at me.
“What did she say?””
I looked toward the basement door.
The same door I had opened a hundred times.
The same door I had walked past every day.
“She said David kept something down there.””
Hayes went pale.
“No.””
“What?””
He stepped forward.
“Laura, don’t open that door.””
I looked at him.
“Why?””
His voice was barely audible.
“Because if Rachel is right…”
A long pause.
“…then everything we thought happened twelve years ago is wrong.””
I walked toward the basement.
My hand touched the doorknob.
May you like
And from the other side…
I heard something move.
