Page 17 of One Last Secret

“He’s vanished!” Celeste weeps. “He’s gone to the vanishing point and disappeared just like mom!”

“No, sweetheart, he’s not vanished,” Evelyn says. She looks at me, and I say, “He’s not fallen through the window.”

Evelyn’s eyes widen hopefully. “No? You’re sure?”

“I’m sure. You can look for yourself if you want.”

“Daddy?” Celeste gets to her feet and runs for the window. I catch her just before she can leap through. She struggles through my arms. She’s petite and thin, but she is young and panicked. I nearly lose control of her, but Evelyn wraps her arms around Celeste and pulls her backwards.

“No! Let me go! I have to see!”

“He’s not down there,” I repeat. “I promise you. We can’t let you go because you could fall, but he’s not there.”

I expect that to comfort her somewhat, but she only shrieks again, “He’s vanished! He’s gone to the vanishing point!”

“He’s not in the ocean, or we would have seen him,” I say.

That finally seems to calm her a little. She meets my eyes and says, “You didn’t see him?”

“No.”

“You promise?”

“I promise. He hasn’t fallen, and he hasn’t vanished. I’m going to go look for him. I want you to stay with Evelyn.”

“No, I want to help. I want to look for my Daddy.”

“It’s not safe right now. We don’t know where he is. Stay with Evelyn. She’ll take care of you while I—”

“Please.”

“No, Celeste.”

“Please!”

“All right,” Evelyn says before I can reply. She meets my eyes and says, “You can help me, Celeste. Do you want to help me look for him?”

She nods, and Evelyn helps her to her feet. I can accept that compromise.

It's not until we reach the first floor that I think to suspect Evelyn. The thought stops me dead in my tracks. In my last place of employment, the housekeeper was the murderer. Evelyn was the one who discovered Victor missing, and she did so when Celeste and I were out of the house.

And I’ve just placed Celeste into her care.

I curse and turn to Eveleyn to suggest thatItake Celeste while she searches alone, but the two of them are already moving toward the front door. Well, I can at least follow the two of them. Besides, the neighbors will no doubt have heard the commotion. If not, then I have my phone, and I can call for help the minute Evelyn tries anything.

I hope that Evelyn is innocent. It would be so devastating if Celeste had to learn that her housekeeper murdered her father.

We step outside, and as I suspect, there is a small crowd of people standing outside, staring at us with a mix of uncertainty and fear. “Is everything okay?” a woman of around forty asks.

I recognize her as the one who looks out her back window as the three of us run up the stairs. Celeste lifts her eyes to the woman and sobs, “Have you seen my Daddy?”

The woman pales and looks up at me. “Victor’s gone missing,” I explain. “His studio is ransacked, and he’s not in the house.”

The woman blinks. “Um… have you checked the basement? Sometimes he goes in there when he’s… in a mood.”

I feel a rush of hope at that. We’ve only checked the studio. I assumed he would be there, but I don’t even think about the rest of the house.

Celeste pulls away from Evelyn and rushes inside. Evelyn looks at me and says, “I’ll check around here with the neighbors. Maybe someone’s seen him.”

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