Chapter 12 - Under the Carriage House
Richard found the basement door behind a stack of old wine crates.
It was locked.
He kicked it once.
Twice.
On the third hit, the frame split.
“Maya!”
A narrow stairway dropped into darkness.
Daniel went first with a flashlight.
Richard followed.
At the bottom, they found a storage room filled with file boxes, old computer towers, and surveillance equipment.
Maya sat on a mattress in the corner.
She saw Richard and burst into tears.
He crossed the room in three steps and pulled her against him.
“I’ve got you. I’ve got you.”
She clung to his neck.
“Bad man.”
“I know.”
Daniel searched the room.
“Graham isn’t here.”
Victoria came down behind them with the detective.
Maya saw her and pressed deeper into Richard’s chest.
Victoria stopped as if struck.
For once, her pain looked real.
Richard did not care.
Daniel opened one of the file boxes.
Inside were printed medical forms, forged signatures, copied trust documents, and photographs of Maya taken through nursery windows.
Then he found a folder labeled PHASE THREE.
Richard opened it.
The first page was a psychiatric evaluation template for a child.
Maya’s name had already been typed at the top.
The diagnosis section was blank.
The second page was worse.
It was a petition seeking temporary guardianship due to alleged parental neglect and severe behavioral instability.
Richard’s hands shook.
“They were going to use me too.”
Victoria said nothing.
A phone rang somewhere in the basement.
Everyone turned.
It was an old landline mounted to the wall.
Daniel answered.
A man’s voice came through the speaker.
Graham.
“Richard,” he said calmly. “You were always excellent at building companies.”
A soft click followed.
May you like
“You were terrible at seeing people.”
Then the smell of smoke reached them.
