The Lullaby That Exposed a Deadly Family Secret

I stared at the photograph until the letters blurred.

Elise was younger in the picture, perhaps twenty-two. Her hair fell loosely around her shoulders, and her face looked thinner than I remembered. She held the newborn against her chest, one hand cradling the baby's head.

There was no doubt it was her.

I knew the tiny scar near her left eyebrow. I knew the way she tilted her head when she was tired. I knew the delicate gold ring on her right hand, a ring she had once told me belonged to her grandmother.

But I had never seen the baby.

And I had never heard Elise mention a pregnancy before ours.

I turned the photograph over again.

If Daniel ever finds out, he'll know.

“Know what?”” I whispered.

Grace stood before me, her fingers clenched around the chain.

“I don't know, sir.””

“Did your mother tell you anything else?””

“She said the woman was terrified. She said someone had threatened to take the baby away.””

“Who?””

Grace shook her head.

“I was a child. My mother didn't tell me names.””

I looked at the photograph again.

The baby wore a white knitted cap. Elise's expression wasn't the radiant happiness I remembered from pictures taken after Caleb's birth.

She looked frightened.

Protective.

As though someone might appear at any moment and take the child from her arms.

“Why did you bring this here?”” I asked.

Grace swallowed.

“Because I recognized your wife in the photograph the moment I saw the portrait in your hallway.””

I looked up sharply.

“You knew who she was before today?””

“I suspected. I didn't know for certain until I heard your son cry.””

“Why didn't you tell me?””

“Because I was afraid you would fire me before I could explain.””

“Why would I fire you?””

Grace's eyes filled.

“Because my mother told me to stay away from the Brooks family if I ever found them.””

The words settled between us.

Outside the bedroom, the house creaked as the air conditioning came on. Caleb stirred beneath his blanket, murmured something in his sleep, then went quiet.

I lowered my voice.

“Grace, I need you to tell me everything your mother told you.””

She looked toward the sleeping boy.

“Not here.””

“Why not?””

“Because I don't know who might hear us.””

A cold sensation traveled down my spine.

“Are you saying someone is listening?””

“I don't know, sir. But my mother spent years looking over her shoulder. She never answered the telephone without checking the number. She kept the curtains closed even on sunny days.””

Grace wiped her cheek.

“When I asked why, she'd tell me that some secrets were dangerous because the people who buried them were still alive.””

I thought of Vanessa.

Of the way her face had changed when Grace began singing.

Of the speed with which she had tried to dismiss the entire incident.

I pushed the thought away.

Vanessa was ambitious, sometimes controlling, but I had never imagined her capable of anything truly sinister.

Still, I slipped the photograph into my pocket.

“Don't tell anyone about this,” I said.

Grace nodded.

“And don't leave the house alone until we understand what's happening.””

Her expression tightened.

“Mr. Brooks, I don't think staying here will make me safer.””

“Why?””

She looked at me for a long moment.

“Because I think someone already knows I found you.””

Before I could ask what she meant, a phone vibrated in the hallway.

My phone.

I had left it on the small table outside Caleb's room.

I stepped out and picked it up.

An unknown number.

The message contained a single photograph.

It showed Grace standing beside the garden fountain earlier that afternoon, holding Caleb's hand.

The picture had been taken from inside the house.

Beneath it were eight words.

*Send the maid away before she tells you everything.*

I read it twice.

Then a second message appeared.

*Your wife wasn't the only one who lied to you.*

I turned toward Grace.

She was standing in the bedroom doorway, watching me.

“What's wrong?”” she asked.

I showed her the screen.

The color drained from her face.

“Oh, no.””

“You've seen this number before?””

She shook her head, but her hands began trembling.

“No. But my mother used to receive messages like that.””

“From whom?””

“She never told me.””

I called my head of security, Thomas Bell.

He answered on the second ring.

“Mr. Brooks?””

“Thomas, I need you in the house immediately. I want the security footage from the last twenty-four hours, every camera, every entrance. And I want you to find out who sent a message to my phone from an unknown number.””

“Yes, sir. Is there a threat?””

I looked at Grace.

“Yes,” I said.

“I think there is.””

I ended the call.

Then I heard footsteps on the stairs.

Vanessa appeared in the hallway, wearing a cream silk robe over her gold dress. Her makeup had been removed, but her diamond earrings remained in place.

She looked at the phone in my hand.

“What's happened?””

“Someone sent me a threatening message.””

Her expression changed immediately.

“What kind of message?””

I watched her carefully.

“Someone wants Grace out of the house.””

Vanessa glanced toward the bedroom.

“Perhaps whoever sent it knows she's been upsetting you.””

“Upsetting me?””

“Daniel, this woman appears out of nowhere, sings a song your dead wife used to sing, and produces a photograph of a baby nobody has ever heard of. Don't you think it's reasonable to question her motives?””

Grace stepped into the hallway.

“I never asked Mr. Brooks for anything.””

Vanessa turned toward her.

“No, you simply brought a dead woman's secrets into his home.””

“I didn't know the photograph existed until tonight.””

“Convenient.””

“Vanessa,” I warned.

She ignored me.

“Tell me something, Grace. Did you apply for this job knowing who Daniel was?””

Grace looked startled.

“No.””

“Did you know his wife was dead?””

“No. I learned that after I arrived.””

“And yet you had a photograph of her?””

“My mother gave me the locket years ago.””

Vanessa folded her arms.

“How touching.””

I stepped between them.

“That's enough.””

Vanessa looked at me, disbelief hardening her features.

“You're taking her side?””

“I'm taking the side of finding out the truth.””

“And what if the truth is that she's manipulating you?””

“Then we'll discover that.””

“And until then, what? You'll keep her here?””

“Yes.””

Vanessa's lips parted.

She seemed genuinely shocked that I had refused her.

Then her face went cold.

“You're making a mistake.””

“Maybe.””

She looked past me at Grace.

“But some mistakes can't be undone.””

For one brief second, Grace appeared to recognize something in Vanessa's voice.

Her eyes widened.

Then she lowered her head.

Vanessa turned and walked downstairs.

I waited until her footsteps disappeared before facing Grace.

“What was that?””

“Nothing.””

“Grace.””

She looked at the floor.

“My mother once told me that a woman with a gold ring came to our house after the baby disappeared.””

My heart stopped.

“What woman?””

“She couldn't remember her name. She only remembered the ring because it had a small black stone set into it.””

I thought of Vanessa's jewelry.

She wore dozens of pieces, but I had never paid much attention to them.

“Did your mother say what the woman wanted?””

Grace nodded slowly.

“She wanted the locket.””

I pulled the photograph from my pocket and examined it again.

“Did your mother give it to her?””

“No.””

“What happened?””

Grace's voice dropped to a whisper.

“My mother told her the baby had died.””

I stared at her.

“Was that true?””

“I don't know. My mother refused to answer whenever I asked.””

A terrible possibility began to form in my mind.

What if the child in the photograph had survived?

What if Elise had given birth before she met me?

What if the woman who had come looking for the baby had been connected to someone I knew?

I forced myself to breathe.

“Grace, do you have anything else from your mother? Letters? Documents? Anything that could tell us who the baby was?””

She nodded.

“There's a box in my apartment. My mother's old papers are inside. I didn't bring them because I thought they were just family memories.””

“Can you get them?””

“Tomorrow morning.””

“No.”” I glanced at the security camera above the hallway.

“We'll send Thomas with you tonight.””

Grace looked frightened.

“What if someone is watching my apartment?””

“Then we'll find out who.””

I had barely finished speaking when Thomas appeared at the top of the stairs, his face unusually tense.

“Mr. Brooks, I checked the security footage.””

“And?””

He glanced toward the staircase Vanessa had descended.

“Someone accessed the private camera system this afternoon.””

“Who?””

Thomas hesitated.

“The login came from inside the house.””

My stomach tightened.

“Which account?””

He looked directly at me.

“Mrs. Carter's.””

For a moment, I couldn't speak.

Vanessa had been in my home for months. She had helped me arrange the engagement dinner. She knew the security codes, the staff schedules, the rooms where I kept important documents.

But why would she watch Grace?

Why would she send a message threatening a woman she had barely met?

I started toward the stairs.

Thomas caught my arm.

“Sir, there's something else.””

“What?””

He held out a tablet.

“We recovered a deleted file from the security system. It was accessed from Mrs. Carter's account three weeks ago.””

He tapped the screen.

A scanned document appeared.

The page was old and slightly blurred, but the hospital letterhead was unmistakable.

My eyes moved to the heading.