Chapter 5: My Name Was Already There
Daniel closed the folder before Victor could reach it.
“Everyone out.””
Victor’s face hardened.
“This is my house.””
“And this is now potential evidence,” Daniel said.
“Step outside.””
Two officers moved between us and the table.
I couldn’t move.
My name was still burning in my mind.
Elena Carter.
Written inside a hidden room that had supposedly been sealed for years.
“That’s impossible,” I whispered.
Daniel looked at me.
“You’ve never seen this room?””
“Never.””
“Have you ever met Victor Blackwood before taking this job?””
“No.””
Victoria gave a short laugh from the doorway.
“People forget many things when it becomes convenient.””
I turned toward her.
“What is that supposed to mean?””
Victor shot his wife a warning look.
She stopped talking.
That frightened me more than the folder.
Daniel noticed it too.
“Mrs. Blackwood,” he said, “what does Elena need to remember?””
“Nothing.””
“You seemed certain a second ago.””
Victoria folded her arms.
“I’m tired. My daughter has been distressed. I misspoke.””
Lily appeared behind Daniel and grabbed my hand.
“She didn’t.””
I looked down.
“What?””
Lily stared at Victoria.
“She knows you.””
Victor snapped, “Lily, stop.””
Daniel immediately turned.
“Mr. Blackwood, you will not tell her what she can say.””
Victor’s mouth tightened.
Lily pressed closer to me.
“I heard them talking about you before you came.””
My pulse jumped.
“About me?””
She nodded.
“They said you finally accepted.””
The hidden room seemed to shrink around me.
“Accepted what?””
“The job.””
I looked at Victor.
“You chose me specifically.””
Victor remained silent.
I remembered the employment agency contacting me unexpectedly. The salary had been nearly double what I expected. The interview had lasted twelve minutes. They barely asked about my qualifications.
At the time, I thought I had finally gotten lucky.
Now I understood there had been no luck involved.
Daniel opened the folder again.
He read the first page silently.
Then the second.
His expression became more serious with each line.
“What does it say?”” I asked.
He hesitated.
“Officer.””
He finally looked at me.
“It contains information about your childhood.””
My mouth went dry.
“That doesn’t make sense.””
“Your schools. Former addresses. Foster placements.””
The room tilted.
I had spent years trying not to think about those places.
Temporary bedrooms.
Plastic bags instead of suitcases.
Adults promising I could stay before another social worker arrived.
My earliest memories were fragments: fluorescent hallways, unfamiliar kitchens, people calling me “sweetheart” because they couldn’t remember my name.
“How did they get that information?””
Daniel turned another page.
“I don’t know.””
Victor suddenly spoke.
“You should stop.””
Daniel looked at him.
“Why?””
“Because you’re interpreting private research without context.””
“Research into Elena?””
Victor said nothing.
I stepped toward him.
“Why were you researching me?””
“Elena—”
“Why?””
His calm expression finally cracked.
“Because your mother worked for my family.””
The words hit harder than I expected.
“My mother died when I was four.””
“That is what you were told.””
The room became completely silent.
I stared at him.
“No.””
Victor lowered his voice.
“Some truths are crueler than the lies built around them.””
“Don’t.””
“Elena,” Daniel warned gently, “let us verify this.””
But I couldn’t look away from Victor.
“What was her name?””
Victor hesitated.
I already knew the answer I expected.
“Say it.””
“Marianne Carter.””
My chest tightened.
That was her name.
I had seen it on old records.
Never photographs. Never letters.
Just a name.
“What did she do here?””
Victor glanced toward Victoria.
“My father employed her.””
“For what?””
Before he could answer, Lily tugged my sleeve.
“Elena.””
I looked down.
She pointed beneath the table.
Something had been taped to its underside.
Daniel crouched and carefully removed it.
A small envelope.
Across the front, written by hand, were three words:
FOR ELENA CARTER.
My knees nearly gave way.
Daniel photographed it before opening it.
Inside was an old brass key and a photograph.
He held the picture beneath the light.
A young woman stood outside Blackwood Mansion holding a little girl.
The woman had dark hair.
The child looked about three.
I recognized the child immediately.
Not because I remembered the day.
Because I recognized my own face.
“That’s me.””
Daniel looked at the back.
“There’s writing.””
“What does it say?””
He read it aloud.
“Marianne and Elena. June 2001. The last day before everything changed.””
I stared at Victor.
“What happened that day?””
He looked suddenly older.
“My father made a decision.””
“What decision?””
Victoria interrupted sharply.
“Victor, don’t.””
He turned toward her.
“You wanted this buried. Look where that got us.””
“Think about what you’re doing.””
“I have been thinking about it for twenty-five years.””
Daniel stepped closer.
“What happened to Marianne Carter?””
Victor looked at me.
“She discovered something my father had done.””
“What?””
Victor swallowed.
“She threatened to expose him.””
“And then?””
Before he could answer, an officer rushed into the hidden room.
“Daniel.””
“What?””
“We found another entrance.””
“Where?””
“Basement level. Behind the old wine cellar.””
Victor went pale.
Daniel noticed.
“What’s down there?””
“Nothing.””
Lily shook her head.
“There is.””
Everyone looked at her.
Her voice became barely audible.
“That’s where Grandpa goes when he thinks everyone is asleep.””
I stared at her.
Victor’s father.
The supposedly fragile old man I had been hired to care for.
The man I had barely seen outside his bedroom.
Daniel ordered two officers downstairs.
Victor stepped forward.
“You need specialized equipment before entering.””
Daniel stopped.
“Why?””
Victor looked toward me.
Then at the brass key in Daniel’s hand.
“Because if that key is where I think it’s from…”
May you like
He took a slow breath.
“…my father has been waiting for Elena to find that basement for twenty-five years.””
