Chapter 4 - The Escape
The deafening report of the silenced shot startled baby Leo into a shrill, piercing scream. Dennis stumbled backward, cursed violently, and wiped a trickle of dark blood from his split eyebrow.
“Move!” Julian roared.
He didn’t hesitate. Lunging forward, Julian tackled Dennis around the midsection, driving the larger man back into the hallway wall. The two crashed violently onto the parquet floor, wrestling for control of the weapon.
“Hannah! Run!” Julian yelled between grunts of effort, pinning Dennis’s wrist to the floorboards.
Hannah didn’t need to be told twice. Clasping both hands over Leo’s head to shield his soft ears, she bolted past Victoria, who lunged to grab her hair.
Hannah ducked sharply; Victoria’s manicured nails caught only empty air, snagging on the baby carrier’s strap and tearing it halfway loose. Pain shot through Hannah’s injured wrists as she grabbed the railing of the grand spiral staircase, nearly tumbling headfirst down the marble steps.
Behind her, another muffled pop shattered the upper landing, followed by a sickening thud and a heavy groan. Hannah didn’t dare look back to see who had fallen.
Her bare feet slapped against the cold marble of the foyer. The massive front double doors were chained shut with a brass padlock—Victoria had locked them down from the inside.
“No, no, no,” Hannah whispered, her chest heaving, the baby wailing against her collarbone.
She turned toward the rear corridor, sprinting toward the kitchen. The staff entrance leading out to the service courtyard was their only hope. Her vision blurred at the edges from blood loss and shock, but the sound of heavy footsteps descending the stairs pushed adrenaline through her veins.
“Get back here, you gutter rat!” Victoria’s voice shrieked down the stairwell, stripped of all composure, purely hysterical.
Hannah shoved open the swinging kitchen doors. The stainless-steel surfaces reflected the pale moonlight pouring in through the panoramic windows. She slammed her shoulder against the service door’s emergency bar.
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The heavy metal door burst open, and the freezing autumn night air hit her like a wall of ice. She plunged into the drizzle outside, feet sinking into the wet gravel.
Suddenly, twin halogen beams ripped through the darkness, blinding her as an engine roared to life right in front of her.
