I walked inside.
The kitchen was empty.
The hallway was empty.
Then I heard something beneath the stairs.
A faint sound.
Three knocks.
I opened the little white door.
Nothing.
Just darkness.
Then my phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
One message.
YOU FOUND THE WRONG SECRET.
I stared at the screen.
A second message appeared.
YOUR FATHER WASN’T THE ONE WHO CREATED PAISLEY.
Then a photograph arrived.
It showed Paisley as a newborn.
A hospital room.
A nurse holding her.
And standing beside the crib was a woman I had never seen before.
Except I had.
Because I knew that face.
I had seen it in the old photographs.
The woman was my mother.
But my mother had supposedly been dead for twelve years.
My hands began shaking.
A third message appeared.
SHE HAS BEEN WATCHING YOU SINCE THE DAY PAISLEY WAS BORN.
I looked toward my daughter.
