Chapter 7 - BENEATH THE ESTATE
Evelyn’s bedroom had remained closed since her death.
Grant could not bring himself to sleep there.
Renata had wanted the room remodeled, but Lily screamed every time workers approached the door.
Now we understood why.
Lily led us to the carved fireplace beneath Evelyn’s portrait.
She knelt and pressed a stone near the base.
A metal latch released beneath the carpet.
Grant and Detective Cole lifted a concealed door from the floor.
A narrow staircase descended into darkness.
The air below smelled damp and metallic.
Harris had never mentioned an underground level.
Neither had the estate blueprints.
Cole ordered everyone to remain upstairs while officers searched the passage.
Lily refused to leave.
“Mommy went down there.”
“When?” I asked.
“The day before she died.”
Grant allowed me to accompany him while Lily remained under Ramirez’s protection.
The staircase led to an old concrete corridor beneath the mansion.
Electrical cables ran along the ceiling.
At the far end stood a steel door with an electronic keypad.
The power had been disconnected.
Officers forced the lock.
Behind the door was not a basement.
It was an underground office.
Rows of metal shelves held decades of financial records.
Several computer servers stood beneath protective covers.
A wall displayed photographs of judges, business executives, senators, police officials, and foreign investors.
Some photographs had dates written beneath them.
Others had dollar amounts.
Grant stared at the wall in disbelief.
“My father kept files on everyone.”
Cole opened a cabinet.
Inside were recordings, contracts, photographs, and sealed envelopes.
“This looks like blackmail material.”
A desk stood in the center of the room.
The Whitmore family crest was carved into its surface.
Grant opened the bottom drawer.
A black leather ledger rested inside.
Lily had been right.
Evelyn’s missing book had been moved beneath the house.
Grant opened it.
Each page listed money transferred from the Whitmore Foundation to shell companies controlled by Renata, Julian, Nathaniel, and several unknown partners.
The final pages contained Evelyn’s handwritten notes.
One sentence had been underlined three times.
Grant must never learn the truth about his father.
A sound echoed through the corridor.
Metal scraping against concrete.
Cole drew his weapon.
The steel door slammed shut behind us.
The lights went out.
A warning alarm began beeping inside the server cabinet.
Smoke poured from the ventilation grates.
Someone had activated a fire suppression system designed to remove oxygen from the room.
Grant pounded against the steel door.
“Open it!”
Cole searched for an emergency release.
The air became thin.
My lungs tightened.
Through the dark glass of the door, a figure appeared in the corridor.
A man wearing a red coat stood on the other side.
Grant pressed his face against the glass.
“Nathaniel!”
The man lifted one hand.
May you like
The Whitmore signet ring gleamed on his finger.
Then he walked away while we fought for breath.
