Chapter 6 - Escape to the Nursery
Pain shot through Sarah’s knee as she struck the stone step, but adrenaline flooded her veins with pure fire. Marcus pulled hard on her ankle, dragging her back down toward the gloom.
""Give me the drive!"" he snarled, his fingers digging like talons into her flesh.
With her free leg, Sarah kicked back with all the force she could muster, her heavy work shoe catching Marcus squarely in the jaw. Marcus grunted, his grip loosening as his head snapped back, his glasses clattering against the steps.
Sarah scrambled upward on her hands and knees, burst through the basement doorway, and slammed the heavy oak door shut behind her. She threw the heavy brass deadbolt just as Marcus threw his weight against the wood from the other side.
BANG!
""Sarah! Open this door!"" Marcus yelled, his muffled voice thick with fury. ""You have nowhere to run!""
Sarah didn't waste a second. She bolted through the service corridor and out into the main house. The rest of the mansion still had power; the breaker had only been killed for the basement quarters.
Her priority was Julian. If Eleanor and Marcus were willing to kill her, Julian was completely defenseless.
She dashed up the grand staircase, ignoring the throb in her bruised knee. The house was unnaturally quiet. Where was Arthur?
""Mr. Vance!"" Sarah called out as she reached the second floor, her voice echoing down the cavernous, portrait-lined gallery. ""Arthur! Where are you?""
No answer. Only the quiet ticking of the grandfather clock in the alcove.
She pushed open the door to Julian’s room.
The bed was empty. The ice pack lay melted on the rug, soaking into the plush carpet. Mrs. Higgins was nowhere to be found.
""Julian?"" Sarah whispered, terror constricting her chest.
A shadow moved across the doorway behind her. Sarah spun around, her heart in her mouth.
It was Mrs. Higgins, trembling violently, her apron stained with tea. The elderly woman grasped Sarah’s arm with surprising strength. ""They took him, Sarah! Eleanor told Arthur that Julian’s shoulder needed an urgent MRI at the private clinic in the city. They just left through the back garage!""
""Arthur went with them?"" Sarah asked, gasping for breath.
""No!"" Mrs. Higgins sobbed. ""Marcus came up from the basement through the wine cellar entrance just five minutes ago. He whispered something to Arthur, and Arthur looked sick... like he had been poisoned. Arthur collapsed on the sofa in the library! Marcus and Eleanor put the boy in the black SUV and drove off into the storm!""
Sarah looked toward the window. Outside, a violent autumn squall was sweeping across the valley, sheets of rain battering the tall glass panes.
She checked her pocket. The drive was still there.
""Call the police from the landline right now, Mrs. Higgins,"" Sarah ordered, her voice suddenly rock-solid. ""Tell them Arthur Vance has been incapacitated and his son has been abducted by his stepmother.""
May you like
""Where are you going?"" the old woman cried out.
Sarah pulled Arthur’s spare keys from the decorative bowl on the hall console. ""To Clara’s lake house. That’s where Eleanor’s family owns the private dock. They aren't going to a hospital.""
