Chapter 7 - MIDNIGHT AT THE ESTATE
At 11:47 p.m., the estate went dark.
Every light.
Every camera.
Every alarm.
Adrian stood inside the foyer with Detective Morgan, Robert, and several officers.
Lily was safely hidden at the police station.
At least that was the plan.
Then Adrian's phone rang.
Lily's number.
He answered immediately.
“Lily?”
Silence.
Then a woman's voice.
“Hello, Adrian.”
His blood froze.
Eleanor.
His mother.
“You have my granddaughter.”
“No.”
A soft laugh.
“You misunderstand.”
“I won't let you hurt her.”
“You already failed.”
Adrian looked toward Detective Morgan.
The call was being traced.
“Where are you?”
“At home.”
“My home?”
“Exactly.”
The basement door opened.
Eleanor stepped into the hallway.
She looked older.
Elegant.
Calm.
Almost gentle.
Adrian couldn't move.
“You're supposed to be dead.”
“So is your father.”
Robert stepped forward.
“You should have stayed hidden.”
Eleanor smiled.
“You always were dramatic.”
Then she looked at Adrian.
“I did everything for this family.”
“You tortured my daughter.”
“I disciplined her.”
“She was eight years old.”
“She was an obstacle.”
Adrian's face hardened.
“You will never go near her again.”
Eleanor smiled.
“Then sign the trust.”
Detective Morgan raised her weapon.
“You're under arrest.”
Eleanor laughed.
“You don't have jurisdiction over what happens next.”
She pressed a button.
The basement doors slammed shut.
The officers moved.
Then alarms began screaming.
Eleanor had activated a lockdown system.
The house had become a trap.
Adrian ran toward Lily's old bedroom.
A monitor flickered on.
Lily appeared.
She was at the police station.
But someone stood behind her.
Daniel.
His face was bruised.
Adrian's heart stopped.
Eleanor smiled.
“Your brother was never as loyal as you believed.”
The screen changed.
Daniel looked directly into the camera.
“Adrian, don't sign anything.”
Eleanor struck him.
Adrian lunged toward the screen.
“Stop!”
The video ended.
Robert grabbed his arm.
“She's trying to make you emotional.”
“She has my brother.”
“And she wants you to make a mistake.”
Then Detective Morgan's radio crackled.
“Officer down.”
Another voice:
“Suspect escaped.”
Eleanor was gone.
But she left something behind.
A folder.
Adrian opened it.
Inside was a photograph of Lily.
Taken that morning.
And underneath:
IF YOU WANT HER BACK, COME ALONE.
Robert stared at the photograph.
“It's a trap.”
Adrian nodded.
“I know.”
“Then don't go.”
Adrian looked at his father's face.
“I have to.”
Robert shook his head.
“No.”
He pointed to the photograph.
“Look at the background.”
Adrian zoomed in.
A red barn.
A broken fence.
A water tower.
He recognized it.
The old family farm.
The place his mother had sold twenty years ago.
Adrian whispered:
“She wants me there.”
Robert nodded.
“And that's exactly where we'll go.”
“But not alone.”
May you like
Detective Morgan loaded her weapon.
“For once, she doesn't get to choose the rules.”
