Chapter 8 - Daniel's Impossible Arrival
Margaret's heart pounded as Daniel's voice echoed through the hidden chamber.
"Mother, please. Come upstairs alone."
The words sounded calm, almost rehearsed, yet something about them felt terribly wrong. Arthur immediately stepped toward the speaker, studying the ceiling as if searching for another hidden microphone.
"Daniel shouldn't know this room exists," Arthur muttered.
Margaret tightened her grip on Eleanor's letter.
"You told me my husband brought Daniel here as a child."
"Once. More than forty years ago. He would never remember the layout."
A metallic click sounded overhead.
The steel door that had sealed the staircase unlocked by itself.
No one moved.
Daniel called again.
"I don't have much time."
Margaret climbed the stairs slowly while Arthur followed several steps behind. The lighthouse above seemed strangely quiet. Sunlight poured through broken windows, illuminating dust floating in the air.
Daniel stood near the entrance.
His clothes were damp from the sea breeze, and his expression carried an exhaustion Margaret had never seen before.
The moment he saw the brass key in her hand, he closed his eyes.
"So... you found it."
Margaret hurried toward him.
"Daniel, explain what is happening. Why were those people at my house? Why did Rebecca throw away the blanket?"
Daniel looked at Arthur instead of answering.
"You shouldn't have brought her here."
"I had no choice," Arthur replied.
"You always have a choice."
The tension between them was unmistakable.
Margaret stepped between the two men.
"I deserve the truth."
Daniel nodded slowly.
"Rebecca didn't throw the blanket away because she hated it. She knew someone had started searching our house weeks ago. She believed the safest place for the blanket was where no thief would think to look."
Margaret frowned.
"The garbage?"
"You always rescue family memories. Rebecca counted on that."
Arthur looked surprised.
"So she figured it out."
Daniel sighed.
"She figured out more than either of us realized."
He reached into his jacket and produced an identical brass key.
Margaret stared in disbelief.
"There are two?"
Daniel nodded.
"The blanket contained one."
He held up the second.
"Father left the other with me."
Before Margaret could ask another question, the sound of helicopter blades rolled across the coastline.
Daniel looked toward the shattered lighthouse window.
"They found us faster than I expected."
Three dark helicopters appeared beyond the cliffs, flying low over the ocean.
Arthur whispered only two words.
May you like
"They're early."
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