My Cousin Vanished 20 Years Ago—Then a Girl With Her Face Showed Up Holding the Key to Our Locked Blue Door

The panel opened three inches.

Sofia raised the fireplace tool.

A man's hand appeared.

Then Daniel grabbed the wrist and pulled.

The man stumbled into the library wearing the dark uniform of the estate maintenance crew.

It was Owen Pike, Rafael's longtime driver.

"Don't hit me," he said. "I'm done protecting him."

Sofia didn't lower the tool.

"Where is Rafael?"

"North tower. He thinks there's another copy of the tape up there."

"Why were you in the wall?"

Owen swallowed. "He sent me to destroy the passage map."

Mara stepped closer. "Did you know Camila?"

Owen's eyes dropped.

"I drove the car that chased her in 2007."

Elena made a broken sound.

Mara stared at him.

Owen lifted both hands. "I was twenty-two. Rafael told me she had stolen family money and kidnapped a baby. I believed him until his car forced hers off the road."

"His car?" Sofia said.

"He was driving behind me. I wasn't the one who hit her."

Mara's face hardened. "You left her there?"

"No. Teresa got to her first. She had been following in another car. I helped pull Camila out. Rafael saw headlights coming and ran. Teresa told me if I had any decency, I'd keep Rafael from finding the hospital."

"So you helped hide her?"

"For a while."

Owen reached into his jacket slowly and produced a folded paper.

A hand-drawn map of the mansion's hidden passages.

One route ended at the north tower.

Another ended beneath the blue room.

A third line ran off the property to the gardener's cottage.

Mara pointed at a mark beside the north tower.

"What's that square?"

Owen looked sick.

"A records vault."

Sofia's pulse jumped. "What's inside?"