A hand grabbed his arm.

Another covered his mouth.

Before he could react, someone pulled him into darkness.

A storage closet.

The scent of cedar and dust.

Panicked breathing.

Then a trembling voice whispered close to his ear.

“Mr. William… please don’t make a sound.”

He recognized it instantly.

Miss Evelyn.

The oldest housekeeper in the home.

The woman who had practically helped raise Noah.

Her face looked different.

Terrified.

But determined.

“If they hear you… everything is over.”

They.

The word echoed in William’s mind.

He stopped struggling.

And listened.

Voices floated in from the living room.

Vanessa’s voice.

Soft.

Sweet.

But wrong somehow.

Too intimate.

Too dangerous.

And another man speaking.

William frowned.

He knew that voice.

Brandon.

Vanessa’s cousin.

He had been staying there for weeks under the excuse of helping organize some nonprofit fundraiser.

William slowly leaned toward the narrow crack in the closet door.

What he saw made his blood run cold.

Vanessa and Brandon stood far too close together.

Laughing softly.

Wine glasses in hand.

Like nothing in the world was wrong.

“No one suspects anything,” Vanessa said, swirling her drink.