Chapter 3 - THE DARK HOUSE
The foyer vanished into blackness.
Ethan began to cry.
Victor dropped to one knee and covered the child with his body. “Nobody move.”
A crash sounded near the front doors. Then running footsteps cut through the west hall.
Marco’s flashlight snapped on. “Backup generator should have started.”
“It didn’t,” Victor said. “That means someone shut it down.”
Detective Quinn drew her weapon but kept it lowered. “Stay together.”
Lily heard a sharp whisper near the stairs.
“Give me the card.”
She recognized Julian Cole’s voice.
A hand grabbed her shoulder. Lily twisted away and drove her elbow backward. Someone cursed. The lights flickered once, revealing Julian beside her with a cut across his cheek.
Then darkness returned.
“Julian!” Serena shouted.
The name was enough.
Marco tackled him before he reached the corridor. Seconds later, the emergency lights came on, washing the foyer in dim red.
Julian lay facedown with Marco’s knee between his shoulders. A memory card had skidded across the floor.
Detective Quinn picked it up with a gloved hand.
Serena stared at her cousin. “What are you doing?”
Julian looked at Victor, not Serena. “You don’t understand what she’s planning.”
“Then explain it,” Victor said.
Julian’s mouth opened, but Serena cut him off.
“He’s obsessed with me. He probably planted the camera himself.”
Julian laughed bitterly. “You promised I’d be protected.”
Victor handed Ethan to a paramedic and stepped closer. “Protected from what?”
Julian’s eyes moved toward Serena. Fear replaced anger.
The memory card was rushed to the security office. The first recovered clip showed Serena entering the nursery after midnight. She leaned over Ethan’s crib, checked the hallway, and whispered into her phone.
“He cries when I touch the left shoulder. We need a worse injury before Victor comes home.”
A man’s voice answered through the speaker.
“Not yet. The trust papers aren’t ready.”
Victor’s face turned gray.
Detective Quinn paused the video. “Do you recognize that voice?”
May you like
Victor did.
It belonged to the family attorney who controlled Ethan’s inheritance.
