Chapter 10 - The House Became a Prison
Every steel shutter locked into place.
The mansion disappeared from the outside world.
Emily remained seated.
Running would expose their fear.
Daniel wanted fear.
She refused to give it to him.
Mara entered carrying firewood.
She placed it beside the fireplace.
As she passed Emily, she whispered one word.
“Locked.”
Emily understood.
Every exit.
Every ground-floor window.
Every electronic gate.
Daniel’s own security system had transformed the mansion into a fortress.
Daniel looked between the women.
“You seem nervous.”
“Storms make me nervous,” Emily replied.
He laughed softly.
“You survived worse.”
Emily looked at him.
“Yes.”
“I’m surprised.”
There it was.
The first confession hidden inside a joke.
Mara heard it too.
Daniel finished his whiskey.
Emily closed her book.
“I’m going upstairs.”
Daniel stood.
“I’ll help you.”
“Mara will.”
Daniel’s smile disappeared.
“I said I’ll help you.”
Emily forced a tired laugh.
“I need Mara to prepare my bath anyway.”
For several seconds, Daniel considered refusing.
Then he stepped aside.
“Of course.”
Emily began climbing.
Mara followed.
Neither woman hurried.
Daniel watched from below.
At the second-floor landing, Emily turned.
Her husband raised the whiskey glass.
“Sleep well.”
Emily smiled.
“You too.”
They rounded the corner.
Then they ran.
Not toward the bedroom.
Toward the library.
Emily shoved open the doors.
They crossed to a wall of antique bookshelves.
She pulled a hidden brass lever.
A section of shelving moved.
Behind it stood a steel door.
The panic room.
Her father had insisted on installing it when Emily purchased the estate.
Daniel had mocked him.
Emily had almost removed it during renovations.
Now it might save her life.
She entered the access code.
The door opened.
They rushed inside.
Mara slammed the internal control.
Steel sealed behind them.
Emily nearly collapsed.
“We’re safe.”
Mara shook her head.
“Not yet.”
The panic room had its own battery system.
Water.
Medical supplies.
Security monitors.
Most importantly, a separate emergency landline.
Mara grabbed the red phone.
Dial tone.
She almost cried.
She called 911.
“My name is Mara Ellis.”
Her words came quickly.
“We are trapped inside Blackwood Estate.”
“The homeowner is attempting to murder his pregnant wife.”
The dispatcher began asking questions.
Mara gave the address.
Weapons unknown.
Two victims.
One pregnant.
Immediate danger.
Units were dispatched.
“Ten minutes,” Mara said after hanging up.
Emily sat on the cot.
“Ten minutes.”
They could survive ten minutes.
Then footsteps entered the library.
Daniel appeared on the monitor.
He stopped beside the hidden bookshelf.
He looked directly at the camera.
Then he smiled.
Emily whispered.
“How does he know?”
Daniel approached the secret entrance.
His fist struck the steel.
Boom.
“Emily!”
Another blow shook the door.
“Open this door.”
Emily stared at the monitor.
Daniel stepped backward.
May you like
Then he said the words that destroyed her final illusion.
“You were supposed to die under that chandelier.”
