Chapter 7 - The Phantom in the Hallway
The heavy oak door swung inward, creaking on its stainless-steel hinges. Eleanor stepped instantly between the door and Clara’s bed, her fingers curling into tight fists, every protective maternal instinct weaponized. But the figure stepping into the crimson glow wasn't an assassin.
It was Sheriff Thomas Cole, his badge gleaming faintly, his face pale and drawn. He locked the door behind him and shoved a heavy iron bar into the latch mechanism.
""Sheriff?"" Eleanor breathed, letting out a fractured sigh of relief. ""Thank God. What happened to the main power grid?""
""It wasn't a grid failure, Mrs. Vance,"" Cole said, his voice flat, devoid of emotion. He pulled his sidearm from its leather holster, but he didn't aim it at the doorway. He turned the barrel directly toward Eleanor’s chest. ""Someone cut the subterranean transformer behind the hospital. Just like Arthur planned.""
Eleanor’s blood turned to liquid nitrogen. ""Tom... you’ve known Arthur since high school. You were his best man at our wedding.""
""And Arthur paid off my mortgage, paid for my daughter’s cancer treatments, and kept this county from collapsing into ruin,"" Cole replied, his eyes dead and unblinking. ""Clara was never supposed to make it to the banquet, Eleanor. She was supposed to slip on the marble stairs yesterday morning. But she ran. Julian panicked. Now the mess has to be cleaned up here.""
May you like
Behind Eleanor, Clara reached frantically for the emergency nurse call button, but the cable had been cleanly severed beneath the wall plate.
""Arthur is waiting at the private hangar,"" Cole said calmly, raising the gun level with Eleanor’s forehead. ""He only wanted the girl and the fetus gone, Eleanor. He told me to spare you. But you just couldn't stop digging, could you?""
