Chapter 14 What They Had Taken
Darkness swallowed the room.
For a few seconds, Emilia could hear nothing except her own breathing.
Then Marcus's voice came through the black.
"Nobody move."
Daniel answered from somewhere near the wall.
"I'm here."
Samuel said, "So am I."
Emilia reached forward.
Her fingers found Marcus's hand.
He closed his fingers around hers.
"I'm here," he whispered.
She nodded, though he couldn't see her.
The generator had stopped.
Clara had disappeared.
And Evelyn's last words still echoed in Marcus's mind.
Marcus...
His mother had sounded afraid.
Not guilty.
Not manipulative.
Afraid.
"Marcus," Emilia whispered.
"Yes?"
"Your mother."
"I know."
"Do you think Charlotte has her?"
"I don't know."
"Then we need to find her."
Marcus squeezed her hand.
"We will."
Daniel's voice came from the darkness.
"Before we do anything, we need light."
A match struck.
Samuel's face appeared briefly in the tiny glow.
He held an old lantern.
"The generator is dead."
"Can you restart it?" Marcus asked.
"No."
"Why?"
"Someone removed the fuel line."
Daniel cursed softly.
Marcus looked toward the doorway.
"Charlotte planned this."
Samuel nodded.
"She planned everything."
Emilia released Marcus's hand.
"What about the film?"
Marcus looked down.
The tiny strip was still between his fingers.
"It's here."
"Then we can't let anyone take it."
Daniel stepped closer.
"Maybe we shouldn't keep it."
Marcus looked at him.
"What are you suggesting?"
"Destroy it."
The words silenced the room.
Emilia shook her head.
"No."
Daniel looked at her.
"If it's the key, everyone will keep coming after us."
"And if we destroy it?"
"We lose whatever is inside."
Marcus stared at the film.
"No."
Daniel frowned.
"Why?"
"Because my father risked six years of his life to protect it."
Emilia looked at him.
"And now?"
Marcus met her eyes.
"Now I want to know why."
They found an old staircase leading to the surface.
The tunnel opened behind a ruined stone wall near the shore.
The storm had weakened.
Gray morning light stretched across the water.
Marcus stepped outside first.
He scanned the road.
Nothing.
No cars.
No people.
Only rainwater running down the hillside.
Daniel emerged behind him.
"Where would Charlotte take Mom?"
Marcus thought.
"Somewhere we won't expect."
"That's not much help."
"No."
Marcus looked at the film.
"We need someone who can read this."
Samuel shook his head.
"Not here."
"Who?"
"An archivist."
Daniel frowned.
"Who?"
"Professor Elias Grant."
Marcus recognized the name.
"He's retired."
"Exactly."
"Where is he?"
"On the northern coast."
Marcus looked toward the road.
"How far?"
"Two hours."
Daniel shook his head.
"We don't have two hours."
Marcus looked at him.
"Then we'll make it one."
Emilia stepped closer.
"What about my father?"
Marcus looked at her.
"We go back to the clinic."
She nodded.
"I want to see him."
"I know."
Marcus paused.
"And Emilia?"
"Yes?"
"If things become dangerous, you stay behind me."
She gave him a tired look.
"That sounds familiar."
He almost smiled.
"Then let me say it differently."
He stepped closer.
"I don't want you to face this alone."
Her expression softened.
"I can accept that."
They started toward the road.
Then Samuel stopped.
"Wait."
Everyone turned.
He was looking at the ground.
A small object lay in the mud.
A wedding photograph.
Marcus picked it up.
It was a photograph of him and Emilia.
The same one he had found in his father's study.
But this time, someone had written something on the back.
Marcus read it.
His expression changed.
"What?"
Emilia asked.
He handed it to her.
Three words were written beneath the photograph.
Ask about Hannah.
Emilia frowned.
"Who is Hannah?"
Marcus looked at Daniel.
Daniel looked equally confused.
Samuel, however, had gone pale.
"Samuel?"
He didn't answer.
Emilia stepped closer.
"You know that name."
Samuel looked toward the sea.
"Yes."
"Who is she?"
Samuel took a breath.
"Hannah Foster was your grandmother's younger sister."
Emilia stared.
"I've never heard of her."
"Most people haven't."
"Why?"
"Because she disappeared."
Marcus frowned.
"Another missing family member?"
Samuel nodded.
"Thirty years ago."
Daniel looked at the photograph.
"Why would Charlotte tell us to ask about her?"
Samuel's expression darkened.
"Because Hannah was the first person to discover the hidden archive."
Marcus felt a chill.
"Where did she go?"
Samuel looked at him.
"Bellweather."
The clinic was quiet when they arrived.
Too quiet.
Marcus stepped through the rear entrance.
"Dr. Cole?"
No answer.
Emilia hurried toward her father's room.
The door was open.
The bed was empty.
She stopped.
"No."
Marcus reached her.
The room had been disturbed.
A chair lay on its side.
The medical equipment had been disconnected.
Emilia looked around desperately.
"Where is my father?"
Marcus checked the bathroom.
Empty.
Daniel entered behind them.
"The front entrance is locked."
Samuel looked at the floor.
There were marks near the bed.
Someone had moved Thomas.
Emilia's breathing became unsteady.
"Maybe he was taken to another room."
Dr. Cole appeared in the doorway.
She looked exhausted.
But alive.
Emilia rushed toward her.
"Where's my father?"
Dr. Cole hesitated.
"He's gone."
Emilia's face fell.
"Where?"
"Someone came for him."
"Who?"
"I don't know."
Marcus stepped forward.
"Was it Charlotte?"
Dr. Cole shook her head.
"No."
"Then who?"
She looked at Marcus.
"Your father."
The room went silent.
Marcus stared at her.
"Richard?"
She nodded.
"He came for Thomas."
Emilia's voice shook.
"Why?"
"Because he believed the clinic was no longer safe."
Marcus looked at the empty bed.
"Where did they go?"
Dr. Cole handed him a note.
"Your father left this."
Marcus unfolded it.
Only one sentence had been written.
Take Emilia to the lighthouse. Come alone.
Marcus looked up.
"The lighthouse."
Daniel shook his head.
"That's a trap."
"I know."
"Then we're not going."
Marcus looked at him.
"Thomas is there."
"Or they want you to believe he is."
Emilia took the note from Marcus.
She read it.
Then looked at him.
"I'm going."
Marcus immediately said, "No."
She raised an eyebrow.
"You just told me you didn't want me to face this alone."
"That doesn't mean I want you walking into a trap."
"I'm not walking into it alone."
She held his gaze.
"We go together."
Marcus looked at her.
He wanted to argue.
Instead, he nodded.
"Together."
Daniel sighed.
"I knew you'd say that."
Emilia almost smiled.
"Then why argue?"
"Because someone in this family has to pretend to be sensible."
The lighthouse stood at the edge of the cliffs.
It had been abandoned for years.
Its white paint had faded.
The windows were broken.
The sea crashed against the rocks below.
Marcus parked several hundred yards away.
They continued on foot.
Daniel stayed behind with Samuel.
Marcus and Emilia approached the lighthouse together.
The door was open.
Inside, the air smelled of salt and dust.
"Hello?"
Marcus's voice echoed.
No response.
They climbed the spiral staircase.
Halfway up, Emilia stopped.
"What?"
She pointed at the wall.
Someone had scratched words into the paint.
HE NEVER LEFT.
Marcus stared at them.
"Who?"
Emilia shook her head.
They continued.
At the top, they found a small room.
A table stood beneath the window.
On it was a tape recorder.
Marcus approached slowly.
He pressed the button.
Static filled the room.
Then Richard's voice came through.
"Marcus."
Marcus froze.
His father's voice sounded older than he remembered.
"If you're hearing this, then the plan failed."
Emilia looked at him.
The recording continued.
"I need you to understand something before you judge me."
Marcus's jaw tightened.
"You have every right to hate me."
The recording paused.
"I lied about my death."
Marcus closed his eyes.
"I did it because the people hunting us had already reached our family."
Emilia listened.
Richard continued.
"Your mother knew some of the truth. Daniel knew pieces. I kept you in the dark because I believed ignorance would keep you alive."
Marcus whispered,
"It didn't."
The recording continued.
"I was wrong."
There was a long silence.
Then Richard said something that made Marcus's blood run cold.
"The marriage was never the true objective."
Emilia looked at Marcus.
Richard's voice continued.
"The objective was Emilia."
The recording stopped.
Marcus stared at the machine.
Emilia's face had gone pale.
"What does that mean?"
Marcus shook his head.
"I don't know."
The recorder clicked.
It had not stopped.
Another recording began.
Richard's voice returned.
"Emilia, if you're there, listen carefully."
She stepped closer.
"The people behind Bellweather believe you possess something that belongs to them."
Emilia frowned.
"What?"
Richard continued.
"Not the ring."
She looked at Marcus.
"Not the ledger."
The room seemed to shrink around them.
"Something you inherited from your grandmother."
Emilia whispered,
"I don't have anything."
Richard's voice became softer.
"You do."
A pause.
"You just don't remember."
The recording ended.
Emilia stared at the machine.
"What did my grandmother give me?"
Marcus thought about the past.
Her childhood.
Her grandfather.
The summers at Bellweather.
The old house.
Then Emilia suddenly touched her necklace.
The pendant.
Her fingers trembled.
"This."
Marcus looked at it.
"The pendant?"
"My grandmother gave it to me."
"When?"
"I was seven."
She removed it carefully.
The pendant was small and silver.
Marcus examined it.
There was another seam.
Almost invisible.
Emilia stared.
"That's impossible."
Marcus looked at her.
"Open it."
She hesitated.
Then pressed the tiny clasp.
The pendant opened.
Inside was a miniature photograph.
Emilia's grandmother.
A younger Hannah Foster.
And a third person.
Marcus stared.
He knew the face.
Everyone in his family knew it.
Richard stood beside them.
But the photograph had been taken decades before Marcus's parents had met.
On the back were four words:
Hannah knew the truth.
Emilia looked at Marcus.
"Why would my grandmother keep this from me?"
Before he could answer, a sound came from downstairs.
Footsteps.
Marcus immediately moved toward the door.
Daniel's voice called from below.
"Marcus!"
Marcus looked over the railing.
Daniel stood on the lower staircase.
His face was tense.
"What's wrong?"
Daniel looked up.
"We have company."
"Who?"
Daniel glanced toward the entrance.
"Your mother."
Marcus froze.
Evelyn entered the lighthouse.
She looked exhausted.
Her coat was soaked.
And she was holding a gun.
But she wasn't pointing it at them.
She was pointing it at the doorway behind her.
"Don't come any closer," she said.
Marcus descended a few steps.
"Mom."
Evelyn looked at him.
"I came to warn you."
"About what?"
Her eyes moved to Emilia.
Then to the pendant.
Her face changed.
"Oh, no."
Emilia held it tighter.
"What?"
Evelyn's voice trembled.
"Your grandmother didn't give you that pendant."
Emilia stared.
"She did."
Evelyn shook her head.
"No."
She looked toward the lighthouse door.
"She stole it."
Everyone went silent.
Marcus stepped down another stair.
"From whom?"
Evelyn looked at Emilia.
"From the person who has been searching for it for thirty years."
The door behind her slowly opened.
A familiar voice came from the darkness.
"That's enough, Evelyn."
Marcus stopped breathing.
Charlotte stepped into the lighthouse.
And behind her stood Thomas.