Chapter 15 - The Shot
Everything happened at once.
Daniel moved.
Emily ducked.
Vanessa fired.
The bullet shattered the mirror behind Emily.
Police rushed from the staircase.
Vanessa grabbed Emily by the arm and dragged her through the side door.
They entered the old service corridor.
Vanessa locked the door behind them.
“Move.”
Emily stumbled forward.
“You’re not getting out.”
Vanessa pressed the pistol into her back.
“I only need one hostage.”
They descended the narrow servants’ staircase toward the basement.
Emily realized where Vanessa was taking her.
The wine cellar had an exterior tunnel leading toward the old carriage road.
Vanessa knew the mansion better than anyone imagined.
“You planned this.”
Vanessa laughed bitterly.
“I plan everything.”
“Except the camera.”
Vanessa shoved her.
“That stupid camera ruined nothing.”
“It ruined your engagement.”
“Daniel was useful.”
The coldness of the statement surprised Emily.
“You never loved him.”
Vanessa’s expression flickered.
“I could have loved him.”
“If he had remained obedient.”
They reached the basement.
Vanessa forced Emily into the wine cellar.
A vehicle engine sounded outside the tunnel.
Someone was waiting.
Emily remembered the shadow they had seen running from the winter garden.
Vanessa still had another accomplice.
The cellar door opened.
A man stepped inside.
Emily recognized him immediately.
The security supervisor.
The same man who had supposedly disappeared after the footage was erased.
Vanessa smiled.
“Good job, Michael.”
Emily stared at him.
“You saved the footage.”
Michael laughed.
“I saved the copy Daniel asked for.”
“Then I gave Vanessa access to the rest.”
Vanessa looked pleased.
Emily finally understood how Vanessa had known so much.
Michael had controlled the mansion cameras.
He had watched them find the hidden corridor.
He had followed them.
He had made the anonymous call.
Vanessa handed him the fake ledger.
“She tricked me.”
Michael looked at Emily.
Then toward Vanessa.
“You said you had the real one.”
Vanessa’s eyes narrowed.
Emily noticed the tension.
These two did not trust each other.
So she did the only thing she could.
She smiled.
“The real ledger isn’t with the police.”
Both of them looked at her.
Emily continued.
“I hid it.”
Vanessa stepped closer.
“Where?”
May you like
Emily met her eyes.
“Somewhere your father would have hated.”
