Chapter 4 - THE KEY IN ISABELLA’S POCKETEmma reached through the darkness.
Her hands found empty air.
“Ethan!”
A red emergency light began flashing above the boiler room.
For a moment, Emma saw Isabella near the stairs.
One of the private guards held Ethan against his chest.
The boy struggled and kicked.
William lunged toward them.
The second guard blocked him.
David tackled the man before he could strike William.
The room filled with noise.
Steam hissed from the damaged pipe.
Miles crawled toward the staircase.
Emma rushed after Isabella.
Isabella pulled Ethan through the doorway and into the lower hallway.
Emma followed.
“Let him go.”
Isabella looked over her shoulder.
The calm expression was gone.
“You should have ignored the crying.”
Ethan twisted free for half a second.
He grabbed at Isabella’s gown.
Something fell from a hidden pocket.
A black key card struck the floor.
Emma stopped and picked it up.
Printed on one side was a silver symbol shaped like a crown.
Isabella dragged Ethan around the corner.
Emma ran after them.
The hallway divided into three passages.
A steel door slammed on the left.
Emma tried the handle.
Locked.
She pressed the black card against the reader.
The light turned green.
The door opened.
Emma entered a storage room lined with shelves.
Isabella and Ethan were nowhere in sight.
The opposite wall contained another door.
Emma used the card again.
She emerged inside the mansion’s wine cellar.
Rows of bottles stretched beneath stone arches.
At the far end, Isabella pulled Ethan toward an elevator.
The doors began closing.
Emma sprinted.
“Ethan, get down.”
The boy dropped to the floor.
Isabella lost her grip.
Emma reached the elevator and pushed her arm between the doors.
They opened again.
Isabella grabbed Emma’s wrist.
Her fingernails pressed through the yellow glove.
“You are destroying everything.”
Emma pulled Ethan toward her.
“You did that yourself.”
Isabella reached for the control panel.
Emma noticed that only one button was illuminated.
The private garage.
A black vehicle was probably waiting below.
Emma blocked the doors with her foot.
William appeared at the end of the wine cellar.
His tuxedo jacket was gone.
David followed him.
Isabella released Emma.
She changed instantly.
Tears filled her eyes.
“William, she attacked me.”
Emma stared at her.
Ethan clung to Emma’s waist.
William looked at his son.
“Did Emma attack Isabella?”
“No.”
“Did Isabella lock you downstairs?”
“Yes.”
Isabella’s tears disappeared.
“William, he is traumatized.”
“He knows what happened to him.”
“He found Caroline’s files.”
William became still.
“You keep mentioning Caroline.”
Isabella stepped out of the elevator.
“Your late wife suffered from paranoia.”
“Do not speak about my mother like that,” Ethan said.
Isabella ignored him.
“She created accusations against doctors, household employees, and even members of your family.”
William looked at David.
“Where is the silver box?”
David held it beneath his arm.
“Right here.”
The boiler room alarm stopped.
Music from the ballroom could still be heard above them.
The gala had not ended.
Hundreds of guests remained inside the mansion.
William looked toward the ceiling.
“Why hasn’t the event staff cleared the room?”
David checked his radio.
“No signal.”
Emma held up the black key card.
“This opened the hidden doors.”
David examined it.
“This is a master access card.”
William looked at Isabella.
“Why do you have it?”
“Because I am your wife.”
“I do not have one.”
“You never asked.”
William turned to David.
“How many doors can it open?”
“Every electronic lock on the property.”
David flipped the card over.
“There is another problem.”
A series of numbers had been printed beneath the crown symbol.
“What numbers?” Emma asked.
“Administrator credentials.”
David moved toward a security terminal beside the cellar door.
He entered the code.
A map of the mansion appeared on the screen.
Nearly every camera had been disabled.
The ballroom cameras were still active.
David selected one.
A live image showed the gala continuing as though nothing had happened.
Guests smiled beneath the chandeliers.
Servers moved through the crowd.
A man stood near the stage speaking quietly to the orchestra conductor.
Emma recognized him.
Doctor Adrian Vale.
He had become William’s private physician shortly after Caroline’s death.
Ethan pointed toward the screen.
“That’s the doctor who came to the basement.”
William stared at Adrian.
“He told me Ethan was healthy.”
“He gave me medicine that made me sleepy,” Ethan said.
William’s face went pale.
David opened another security window.
A countdown appeared across the screen.
Twelve minutes remained.
Emma leaned closer.
“What happens when it reaches zero?”
David studied the commands beneath the timer.
“All electronic records on the mansion’s private server will be erased.”
Isabella stepped backward.
William turned toward her.
“You were going to destroy the evidence.”
Isabella looked at the timer.
Then she smiled.
“No.”
She reached into the second pocket of her gown.
“I already did.”
May you like
She pressed a small remote control.
The security screen went black.
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