Chapter 11 - The False Appointment
Victor refused to bring Oliver anywhere near Serena.
Instead, Daniel created a decoy.
The pediatric appointment remained on the schedule.
A security officer carried a covered child seat through a private entrance.
Victor arrived separately.
Police monitored the surrounding streets.
Lily stayed at the mansion with Oliver.
Victor entered the hospital at 9:05 a.m.
Nothing happened.
9:20.
Nothing.
9:47.
Still nothing.
Then Victor’s phone rang.
Serena.
“You always were predictable.”
Victor looked around.
“Where are you?”
“Not at the hospital.”
His stomach tightened.
Serena laughed.
“You really thought I wanted Oliver there?”
Victor walked toward the exit.
“What do you want?”
“I wanted you away from the mansion.”
Victor stopped.
He immediately called Daniel.
No answer.
He called Lily.
No answer.
Victor ran.
Daniel’s voice finally came through his earpiece.
“Sir, we have a breach.”
“How?”
“The security network went offline.”
“Get to Lily.”
“We’re trying.”
Victor reached his car.
Meanwhile, back at the mansion, Lily heard glass break downstairs.
She picked up Oliver.
The lights went out.
Her phone lost signal.
She locked the nursery door.
Footsteps moved through the hallway.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Oliver began whimpering.
Lily pressed one finger to her lips.
“Shh.”
Someone tried the handle.
Locked.
A man’s voice came from outside.
“Lily.”
Mercer.
Her blood froze.
He had been released pending formal charges because his attorney challenged the initial detention.
Lily had not known.
Mercer knocked gently.
“You can’t protect him forever.”
She backed toward the closet.
The hidden corridor.
Mercer began kicking the door.
Lily opened the concealed panel and entered with Oliver.
She closed it behind her.
Darkness swallowed them.
Mercer broke into the nursery.
Lily heard him searching.
She moved through the narrow passage.
Oliver remained strangely quiet.
Lily reached Serena’s former dressing room.
She opened the panel.
Empty.
Then someone grabbed her from behind.
Lily screamed.
A hand covered her mouth.
“Quiet.”
Serena.
Lily twisted free.
Serena held a small knife.
“You made everything harder than it needed to be.”
Lily placed Oliver behind her.
“He’s not going with you.”
Serena smiled.
“I don’t need him anymore.”
Lily frowned.
“Then why are you here?”
Serena’s smile disappeared.
“For what Claire hid.”
Lily understood.
“The USB?”
“No.”
Serena stepped closer.
“The second copy.”
Lily had never heard of another copy.
Serena saw the confusion.
Then she smiled again.
“Claire trusted you more than her husband.”
Lily shook her head.
“You’re lying.”
Serena pointed the knife toward Oliver’s stuffed bear.
“No.”
May you like
“She trusted the baby.”
And Lily realized Serena believed Claire had hidden another secret somewhere inside Oliver’s belongings.
