Chapter 2 - THE LOCKED HOUSE
Emma entered through the service gate.
She still remembered the old code from high school.
The estate looked unchanged from the outside: white stone, tall windows, manicured hedges, the kind of wealth designed to look permanent.
Inside, it felt wrong.
Too quiet.
“Dad?”
No answer.
Emma crossed the foyer.
A man appeared from the study.
Tyler Carter.
Twenty-nine. Navy suit. Expensive haircut. Calm smile.
Emma knew him as a strategy consultant Richard had hired six months earlier.
“What are you doing here?”
“Working.”
“In my father’s house?”
“Your father hasn’t been going to the office.”
Emma’s eyes dropped to Tyler’s wrist.
A gold watch.
Richard’s watch.
The vintage Patek his father had given him when Hale Atlantic made its first million dollars.
Emma stared.
“Where did you get that?”
Tyler looked down.
“Richard gave it to me.”
“No, he didn’t.”
Tyler smiled.
“You’ve been away a lot.”
Emma stepped closer.
“Take it off.”
“Ask Richard.”
“I intend to.”
Vanessa entered from the hallway.
Red dress. Diamond earrings. Red heels.
“Emma.”
“You locked the gate.”
“For privacy.”
“You fired Marjorie.”
“She resigned.”
“She told me you dismissed her.”
Vanessa shrugged.
“Marjorie has always enjoyed drama.”
“Where’s Dad?”
“Sleeping.”
“I’m going upstairs.”
Vanessa stepped into her path.
“No.”
Emma stared at her.
“Move.”
“Richard had a difficult morning.”
“What happened?”
“He fell.”
Emma’s anger sharpened.
“How?”
“He tried walking without his cane.”
“I want to see him.”
Vanessa folded her arms.
“And if he asks you to leave?”
“I’ll leave.”
“Good.”
Vanessa moved aside.
Emma climbed the stairs.
Richard’s bedroom door was locked.
She turned.
Vanessa stood below.
“You lock him in?”
“We lock the door because he wanders.”
Emma’s stomach tightened.
“Dad does not wander.”
“He does now.”
Vanessa came upstairs and unlocked the door.
Richard was asleep.
His injured leg rested on pillows.
He looked thinner than he had two weeks earlier.
Emma approached.
“Dad?”
His eyes opened.
For one second, they were unfocused.
Then he recognized her.
“Emma?”
She smiled despite herself.
“Hey.”
Richard looked toward the doorway.
Vanessa and Tyler were watching.
His expression changed.
Fear.
Emma saw it.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Dad.”
“I’m tired.”
She reached for his hand.
Bruises circled his wrist.
Emma’s smile disappeared.
“What happened here?”
Richard pulled his sleeve down.
“Hospital.”
“You left the hospital two weeks ago.”
Vanessa spoke from behind her.
“He bruises easily because of his medication.”
Emma turned.
“What medication?”
“Pain management. Sleep medication. Blood pressure medication.”
“Who prescribed it?”
“Dr. Mercer.”
Richard suddenly said, “Water.”
Emma reached for the glass beside his bed.
Empty.
She walked toward the bathroom.
As she passed the wastebasket, she saw a syringe beneath several tissues.
Emma stopped.
Vanessa noticed.
“Vitamin injection.”
Emma looked at her.
“Since when does Dad get vitamin injections?”
“Since his doctor prescribed them.”
Again, a reasonable answer.
Again, delivered instantly.
Emma returned to the bed.
“Dad, I want you to come stay with me.”
Richard looked at Vanessa.
Vanessa did not speak.
She did not need to.
Richard looked back at Emma.
“I’m fine here.”
Emma knew he was lying.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
Tyler checked his phone.
Vanessa smiled.
“See?”
Emma stood.
She kissed Richard’s forehead.
“I’ll call you tonight.”
He squeezed her fingers.
Hard.
Then, so quietly Vanessa could not hear, he whispered:
“Don’t drink anything.”
Emma looked at him.
Richard released her hand.
On the way downstairs, Vanessa offered coffee.
Emma declined.
At the front door, Tyler said, “Emma.”
She turned.
“You should listen to your father.”
“About what?”
“He wants you out of this.”
Emma looked at Richard’s watch on Tyler’s wrist.
“Then why does everything in this house look like it’s being taken from him?”
Tyler’s smile vanished.
Emma left.
But she did not drive away.
She parked beyond the trees and waited.
Forty minutes later, Tyler’s car left.
Vanessa’s did not.
Emma returned through the service gate.
This time, she entered through the kitchen.
A sound came from the living room.
Something dragging across the floor.
Emma moved toward it.
Then she heard Vanessa laugh.
“Come on, Richard.”
Emma stopped.
May you like
Vanessa’s voice became cruelly playful.
“Crawl for it.”
