Chapter 14 - THE ESCAPE FROM BRIARWOOD
The first thing I heard after the door slammed was Eleanor's breathing.
It was rapid and shallow, like someone trying to inhale through a narrow straw.
The second thing I heard was Detective Carter swearing under his breath.
The third was the metallic click of a lock engaging from the other side.
We were trapped in room seventeen with a woman who might be my sister's mother, a compromised facility director, and a security system controlled by the people we were investigating.
Carter pulled out his phone.
“No signal.”
I checked mine.
Nothing.
The blackout had affected the entire corridor, and the emergency lighting had failed to activate.
“Is there another exit?” I asked.
Eleanor pointed toward the bathroom.
“Window.”
I hurried inside.
The window was narrow, reinforced with a metal grille, and positioned several feet above a sloping roof. It might have been possible to climb through if the grille could be removed, but the bolts were thick and rusted.
Carter examined the door.
“Someone has disabled the electronic release.”
“Can you break it?”
“Not without equipment. And even if we could, we don't know who's waiting outside.”
I looked at Eleanor.
“Do you know where Vanessa took Victoria?”
Eleanor shook her head, crying.
“She said my daughter was dead. She showed me papers. A death certificate. A photograph of a grave.”
“Did you believe her?”
“At first.”
She pressed a hand against her chest.
“But the dates were wrong. Victoria was alive when the papers said she had died.”
I knelt beside her.
“Why didn't you tell anyone?”
“Because she threatened to put me away. She said I was confused, that no one would believe me.”
Her voice broke.
“She said Richard had died because he couldn't accept the truth.”
I looked at Carter.
The evidence was becoming increasingly clear. Vanessa had manipulated the identities of people around her, used medical facilities to conceal them, and relied on forged records to make her lies appear official.
But we still didn't know where Victoria was.
A loud crash sounded in the corridor.
Someone shouted.
Then the door handle began to turn.
Carter raised his weapon and positioned himself beside the frame.
The door opened an inch.
A man's hand appeared through the gap.
The black ring caught the emergency light.
Carter shouted for him to stop.
The door slammed shut again.
A moment later, something struck the wood hard enough to shake the frame.
“They're trying to get in,” I said.
“Or trying to make us open it,” Carter replied.
He looked at the ventilation panel near the ceiling.
“Can you reach that?”
I dragged a chair beneath it and climbed up. The panel was secured with four screws, but two were already loose.
I removed them with my fingers.
Behind the panel was a narrow maintenance shaft.
It was too small for me to climb through comfortably, but it connected to the service corridor.
“Could we get out this way?”
“Maybe. I'll go first.”
Carter climbed onto the chair and inspected the opening.
Before he could move, Eleanor cried out.
“My medication.”
I turned.
“What?”
She pointed toward the bedside cabinet.
“My medication is in there. They change it every week.”
Carter looked at the cabinet.
“Why is that important?”
Eleanor's face crumpled.
“Because I think they've been giving me something to make me forget.”
I felt a chill.
Carter immediately opened the cabinet and examined the medication packets.
Several had labels with different dates, but the dosage instructions were inconsistent.
He photographed them.
“We'll have these tested.”
Eleanor grabbed my wrist.
“They told me I had dementia. They said my memories weren't real.”
“Do you believe that?”
She looked at me.
“Sometimes.”
Her answer broke my heart.
Imagine being told repeatedly that your own memories were false. Imagine being separated from your daughter and then convinced that she had never existed.
Vanessa hadn't merely hidden people.
She had attempted to erase their identities.
Carter climbed into the ventilation shaft and disappeared into the darkness.
A moment later, we heard a metallic scrape.
“It's connected to the service corridor,” he called. “Daniel, help Eleanor onto the chair.”
I carefully lifted Eleanor from her wheelchair.
She was lighter than I expected, but her legs were weak, and she clutched my shoulders in fear.
We managed to get her onto the chair.
Carter reached down and helped guide her through the opening.
I followed last.
The shaft was narrow and filthy. I scraped my knuckles against the metal as I crawled, but I kept moving until I reached the opening at the other end.
Carter was already helping Eleanor down a maintenance ladder.
When I reached the floor, I heard voices approaching.
“Move!” Carter ordered.
We hurried through the service corridor toward the laundry room.
At the far end, a door led to the loading bay.
Carter tried the handle.
Locked.
He looked toward a small emergency-release box beside the frame.
The cover had been removed.
Someone had deliberately disabled it.
I grabbed a metal trolley and drove it into the door.
Once.
Twice.
The third impact broke the latch.
We stumbled into the loading bay just as a vehicle pulled up outside.
Two men climbed out.
One wore a black coat.
The other carried a small metal case.
Dr. Mercer.
He looked older than he had in the staff photograph, with gray hair and a narrow, expressionless face.
But the ring was unmistakable.
He stared at Eleanor.
“Eleanor,” he said calmly. “You shouldn't be out of your room.”
She recoiled.
Carter stepped between them.
“Police. Put your hands where I can see them.”
Mercer smiled.
“You're making a mistake, Detective.”
“Hands up!”
The second man reached inside his coat.
Carter shouted a warning.
I grabbed Eleanor and pulled her behind a concrete pillar.
A sharp crack echoed through the loading bay.
I couldn't tell whether it was a gunshot or a door slamming, but everyone ducked.
Carter moved toward the men.
Mercer turned and ran.
The second man followed him toward the vehicle.
Within seconds, the sedan was speeding out of the loading bay.
Carter chased them to the entrance but stopped when the car disappeared around the corner.
He immediately called for backup.
I knelt beside Eleanor.
She was trembling violently.
“Are you hurt?”
She shook her head.
“No.”
Then she began to cry.
“He was the one who took Victoria.”
I stared at her.
“Dr. Mercer?”
She nodded.
“He told me she had to go somewhere safe. He promised she would come back.”
“Did you ever see her again?”
Eleanor shook her head.
“No. But three months later, Vanessa told me that Victoria was dead.”
Carter returned, breathing hard.
“We need to get you both somewhere secure. This facility is compromised.”
He called for an ambulance and additional officers.
Within twenty minutes, Eleanor was being transported to a hospital under police protection. Dr. Marsh was detained for questioning, and the facility was placed under investigation.
Before we left, Eleanor caught my hand.
“Daniel.”
“Yes?”
She looked at me with desperate intensity.
“Your sister is alive.”
I swallowed.
“How do you know?”
“Because I heard Vanessa talking to Mercer last month. She said Victoria had begun remembering.”
My heart pounded.
“Remembering what?”
Eleanor leaned closer.
“The night your father died.”
May you like
She gripped my fingers.
“Vanessa is terrified that Victoria will remember who was in the room.”
