Chapter 7 - The House Went Dark
The intruder knew exactly how my security system worked.
We froze.
Liam whispered,
“Upstairs. Now.”
Sarah grabbed my arm.
“What is happening?”
“Someone's inside.”
We moved silently.
I knew every inch of the house.
The staircase.
The hallway.
The secondary exit.
The hidden access panel behind the bookcase.
I reached for it.
Nothing.
The electronic lock was dead.
“Backup battery?”
“Thirty seconds.”
Liam checked his watch.
“We have less.”
A shadow moved downstairs.
Sarah covered her mouth.
I pulled her behind the wall.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Measured.
Then a man's voice rose from below.
“Alina.”
My blood turned cold.
Victor.
He knew my name.
Liam stepped forward.
I grabbed him.
“No.”
The voice came again.
“I don't want to hurt anyone.”
I almost laughed.
That was exactly what a dangerous man would say.
The footsteps stopped.
Then he spoke again.
“Especially Sarah.”
Sarah's eyes widened.
Liam moved toward the stairs.
“Stay here.”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“You know this house.”
“Yes.”
“Then get us out.”
I opened a panel beneath the floorboard.
A narrow emergency passage appeared.
Sarah stared.
“You built this?”
“No.”
“My father did.”
We crawled through.
The passage led toward the garage.
Halfway there, we heard another sound.
A scream.
We stopped.
Not from downstairs.
From the kitchen.
Sarah whispered,
“Dad.”
I looked at her.
“What?”
“He came here.”
My phone suddenly powered on.
One message.
You should have listened.
Then another.
Victor is not in your house.
I frowned.
“What?”
Liam looked over my shoulder.
A third message appeared.
Look behind you.
I turned.
The passage was empty.
But the emergency hatch behind us was open.
Someone had followed.
Liam pulled Sarah forward.
We ran.
The garage door wouldn't open.
The backup controls had been disabled.
Liam slammed his fist against the wall.
“Damn it.”
Then I saw it.
The second car.
My old sedan.
The one I never used.
Keys were still hidden inside.
I opened the door.
“We're leaving.”
Sarah jumped in.
Liam took the passenger seat.
As I started the engine, headlights appeared outside the garage.
A black SUV.
It blocked the driveway.
I reversed.
The back gate was locked.
Sarah looked at me.
“We're trapped.”
I put the car into reverse again.
Then I saw something under the windshield wiper.
An envelope.
My name was written across it.
I rolled down the window enough to reach it.
Inside was a photograph.
My father.
Standing with Victor Hale.
And beside them was someone I recognized immediately.
My mother.
On the back of the photograph was a handwritten sentence.
Your father didn't die because he knew too much.
I turned it over.
The second line was worse.
He died because he finally chose you.
Sarah started crying.
“Alina…”
I looked through the windshield.
The black SUV headlights were still shining.
Then the driver's window lowered.
A man inside raised his hand.
Not a gun.
A phone.
My phone rang.
May you like
The caller ID showed one word.
MOM
