Chapter 6 - Someone Inside the Walls
Emily looked toward the kitchen door.
No one stood there.
The garage windows were closed.
The photograph had been taken from above and slightly behind her, as though a camera were hidden near the ceiling.
She slowly raised her eyes.
At first, she saw nothing except pipes, wires, and dusty wooden beams.
Then she noticed a tiny black circle beneath the smoke detector.
A lens.
Daniel had installed cameras in the house.
How many?
And how long had they been there?
Emily left the garage without looking directly at the device again.
She moved through the hallway, pretending to clean while searching for more cameras.
One in the living room bookshelf.
One above the kitchen entrance.
Another hidden inside the bedroom alarm clock.
Each discovery made the house feel less familiar.
This was not her home.
It was an observation room.
Her phone vibrated again.
Do not react. The cameras may transmit sound.
Emily typed beneath the kitchen counter.
Who are you?
The response came immediately.
Someone Daniel failed to protect.
She swallowed.
What does he want from me?
No answer.
Instead, the stranger sent an address.
A public library on the opposite side of the city.
Locker 214. Come alone before noon. Do not take your car.
Emily checked the time.
10:07.
She was supposed to sleep before her next hospital shift.
Daniel knew her schedule.
If she left the house, the cameras would show it.
She needed a reason.
Emily opened the refrigerator and deliberately dropped a carton of milk.
White liquid spread across the floor.
She cursed loudly, then grabbed her handbag.
"I'm going to buy more," she said to the empty room.
It felt ridiculous, but if Daniel was listening, he would hear a believable excuse.
She walked to the corner store.
Then passed it.
At the next intersection, she boarded a crowded bus and changed routes twice.
The library stood inside an old stone building surrounded by construction barriers.
Locker 214 was located in the basement near the public restrooms.
Emily entered the four-digit code sent in the message.
The door clicked open.
Inside was a small envelope and a cheap prepaid phone.
The envelope contained a keycard with the logo of her hospital.
Beneath it was a photograph of Daniel wearing surgical clothing.
Emily stared at it.
Daniel had never worked in medicine.
Yet the photograph clearly showed him inside a restricted hospital corridor.
On the back, someone had written:
Ask what happened in Operating Room 6 eight years ago.
The prepaid phone suddenly rang.
Emily answered cautiously.
A woman's voice whispered, "You need to leave now."
"Who is this?"
"Daniel is not the only one watching you."
Emily turned.
At the far end of the basement, a man in a gray coat had just entered.
He looked directly at her.
May you like
Then he locked the door behind him.
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