Chapter 1: The Voice Beneath the Water
"Marcus...""
I stopped breathing.
That voice.
Fourteen months of silence, fourteen months of searching, fourteen months of waking up in the middle of the night with my wife's name caught in my throat—and I would have recognized it anywhere.
"Elena?"" I whispered.
The guests on the terrace stared at me.
Nobody moved.
Vanessa's fingers slipped from my wrist.
"No," she murmured.
"You didn't hear that.""
I turned toward her.
"Everybody heard it.""
"Marcus, you're confused. You've been drinking.""
"I haven't touched my champagne.""
I looked down at the water.
Three faint knocks came from beneath the pool.
Then a woman's voice, weaker this time.
"Please... hurry.""
Ava screamed.
"Mommy!""
She tried to run toward the pool, but my longtime housekeeper, Mrs. Bennett, caught her around the waist.
"Don't let her go!"" Vanessa shouted.
Something about the way she said it made my blood run cold.
Not concern.
Not panic for a child who might fall into the water.
It sounded like an order.
"Call 911!"" I shouted.
One of my guests was already speaking to emergency services. Another man rushed toward the pool equipment.
I pointed at Vanessa.
"Stay right there.""
Her face twisted.
"You cannot seriously be accusing me of something.""
"I haven't accused you of anything yet.""
I turned back to the water.
The rectangular hatch was partially open. Bubbles escaped from the narrow opening, rising toward the surface in uneven bursts.
I took another breath and plunged underwater.
The cold hit me again.
I reached the hatch and pulled.
It wouldn't move.
I repositioned my hands, pressed my shoulder against the metal, and pushed upward. Something scraped beneath it.
Then the hatch shifted.
A few inches.
Enough for me to see a narrow ladder descending into darkness.
My heart hammered.
There was an entire chamber underneath my swimming pool.
I reached through the opening and felt around until my fingers touched something soft.
Fabric.
A sleeve.
I grabbed it.
A hand suddenly closed around my wrist.
I nearly screamed underwater.
The fingers were weak, ice-cold, and trembling.
But they were human.
I pulled.
Something caught beneath the hatch.
I changed my grip and tugged harder.
A pale face appeared in the darkness.
Blonde hair floated around it.
A familiar silver necklace glimmered against a thin neck.
My wife's necklace.
The one I had watched her put on the morning she disappeared.
I pulled with everything I had.
The woman slipped through the opening, and I wrapped an arm around her waist.
We rose together.
When my head broke the surface, I gasped.
"Help me!""
Two guests grabbed her arms.
I pushed her toward the pool steps, and they dragged her onto the marble.
She was frighteningly thin.
Her skin was almost gray. Her wet hair clung to her cheeks. Her lips were blue.
But when I turned her face toward the terrace lights, I saw the tiny scar above her left eyebrow.
I had kissed that scar a thousand times.
"Elena?""
Her eyelids fluttered.
"Marcus...""
My knees nearly gave out.
I dropped beside her.
"Oh, my God.""
I touched her cheek.
It was cold.
"Elena, sweetheart, look at me.""
Her fingers moved against my palm.
Then her eyes opened.
For one second, she looked directly at me.
And I saw the woman I had loved.
The woman I had buried without a body.
The woman whose photographs I had hidden because looking at them hurt too much.
"Daddy!""
Ava broke free from Mrs. Bennett and ran toward us.
"Mommy!""
Elena's expression changed.
A sound escaped her throat.
"Ava?""
Our daughter fell beside her mother, wrapping both arms around her neck.
"Mommy! Mommy! I told Daddy! I told everybody!""
Elena began crying.
"Oh, my baby.""
Ava kissed her forehead.
"I knew you weren't dead.""
I covered my mouth.
For fourteen months, I had told my daughter that Mommy might never come home.
And she had been right.
My wife was alive.
But before I could say another word, Elena seized my shirt.
Her fingernails dug into my chest.
"Marcus...""
"I'm here.""
She struggled to lift her head.
"Don't let her...""
Her eyes moved past my shoulder.
Toward Vanessa.
I turned.
Vanessa was standing beside the pool controls.
Her champagne-colored dress was soaked at the hem, and her face had lost every trace of color.
"Elena," she said softly.
"You need medical attention. You're confused.""
My wife flinched.
Then she tried to crawl away from her.
"Get her away from me.""
I stood.
"Vanessa, step back.""
"Marcus, listen. She's been through something traumatic. She doesn't know what she's saying.""
Elena grabbed my hand again.
"She put me there.""
Silence.
The words seemed to freeze the entire terrace.
Vanessa shook her head.
"That's a lie.""
Elena coughed violently.
I turned toward the guests.
"Where is the ambulance?""
"Two minutes away!"" someone shouted.
I removed my wet shirt and placed it over Elena's shoulders.
"Don't try to talk. Save your strength.""
But she shook her head.
"No. You have to know.""
"Not now.""
"Marcus, she told me you knew.""
My stomach tightened.
"Knew what?""
Elena's eyes filled with tears.
"She said you agreed.""
I stared at her.
"Agreed to what?""
Before she could answer, Vanessa stepped forward.
"That's enough!""
I moved between them.
"Don't come near my wife.""
Vanessa's expression hardened.
"Your wife? Marcus, look at her. She's been missing for fourteen months. You have no idea where she's been or what happened to her.""
"Then we'll find out.""
"You don't understand what she's capable of.""
I stared at her.
"She's the mother of my child.""
"And I'm the woman you've spent eleven months building a life with!""
Her voice cracked.
For the first time that evening, the guests weren't looking at me with sympathy.
They were looking at Vanessa.
Mrs. Bennett stood behind Ava, holding the little girl's shoulders.
Then one of the guests, my attorney Daniel Reeves, stepped forward.
"Marcus, the police are on their way. Nobody should leave.""
Vanessa laughed bitterly.
"You're all making a terrible mistake.""
Daniel looked at her.
"Then you'll have no problem explaining it to the police.""
She reached into her handbag.
I noticed the movement immediately.
"Vanessa. Don't.""
She stopped.
Her hand remained inside the bag.
A police siren sounded in the distance.
Then Elena whispered something that made my blood turn to ice.
"Marcus...""
I knelt beside her.
"What is it?""
She looked at Vanessa.
"She wasn't alone.""
I felt my chest tighten.
"What do you mean?""
Elena swallowed.
"There's someone else.""
"Who?""
Her eyes moved toward the mansion.
"Someone who lives here.""
Before I could ask another question, the front doors of the mansion opened.
A familiar voice called from inside.
"Vanessa? What happened?""
I turned.
My older brother, Richard, stepped onto the terrace.
He was wearing the gray suit I had bought him for tonight.
He looked at the pool.
At Elena.
Then at me.
And the glass in his hand slipped, shattering against the marble.
Because my brother had supposedly been in Chicago for the past three days.
And when he saw my wife alive, the first words out of his mouth weren't relief.
May you like
They were:
"She's not supposed to be out.""
