Chapter 2 - The Sound of Tires
The sound on the gravel did not fade. Instead, it was accompanied by the low, guttural rumble of a diesel engine idling just outside the perimeter fence. Victoria stiffened, her gaze darting toward the narrow triangular window set high in the gable. The late afternoon sunlight was dying, painting the timber framework in bruised shades of purple and charcoal.
""Get to the downstairs monitors,"" Victoria commanded, her composure snapping back into place with rigid authority. ""Kill the exterior lights. If local authorities stumbled onto the property, you know the narrative. You were working on the roof.""
Julian didn't move immediately. His eyes were glued to the handheld display. The red text had shifted, forming coordinates that mirrored their exact geographic location in the rural valley. ""They aren't cops, Mother. Police don't ping private black-market servers before they execute a warrant.""
Lena kept her chin tucked to her chest, trying desperately to regulate her respiration. Every contraction, faint and sporadic, radiated through her lower spine like dull lightning. She couldn't let them know the labor pains had already started three hours ago. The medical pouch Victoria carried contained pitocin and surgical clamps; Victoria had never intended for Lena to survive the infant's extraction.
""Move!"" Victoria snapped, striking Julian across the forearm.
Julian flinched, slipping his phone into his pocket before bolting toward the concealed doorway disguised behind a rack of antique wardrobe trunks. The door swung open on oiled hinges, revealing the steep, unlit stairway leading down to the residential floors.
Victoria turned back to Lena, her cold, aristocratic face contorting into an expression of vicious calculation. She reached into her navy coat pocket and drew out a strip of heavy silver adhesive tape. ""You stay silent. If I hear so much as a whimper from you while I handle this disturbance, I won't bother with the anesthetic.""
Lena did not flinch as the adhesive was slapped across her mouth, sealing her lips with cruel pressure. Tears leaked from her eyelashes, tracing tracks through the grime on her pale cheeks.
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Victoria turned off the overhead work lamp, plunging the attic into dim twilight, illuminated only by the faint square of the gable window. She stepped backward through the hidden threshold, pulling the fake wall shut until a soft mechanical latch clicked into place.
Lena was alone. In the near darkness, she strained her ears. Below, the sudden, sharp sound of shattering glass tore through the silence of the ground floor.
