Chapter 4 - The Night the Estate Went Dark
I packed before sunrise.
My hands shook so badly I folded Mia’s clothes three times and still did it wrong.
Dominic found me closing the suitcase.
“What are you doing?”
“Leaving.”
“No.”
I turned on him.
“My daughter’s picture was attached to a death threat.”
“I know.”
“Then you understand.”
“You are safer here.”
“That is what men with gates say before the gates fail.”
His jaw tightened.
“Elena.”
“I came here to work. I did not bring Mia into this.”
“You didn’t.”
“Someone did.”
He looked at my sleeping daughter.
“I will protect her.”
“You couldn’t protect Leo because you didn’t know where the danger was.”
The words hit him hard.
I regretted them the moment they left my mouth.
But he did not argue.
“You’re right.”
That stopped me.
“I am not asking you to trust my confidence,” he said. “I am asking you to look at the facts.”
Leaving meant public roads.
Hotels.
Cheap rooms.
No guards.
No cameras.
Whoever watched Mia knew her face.
I hated that he was right.
“I want guards near the staff wing.”
“Done.”
“Not ones who scare her.”
“Thomas and Raymond.”
“She likes Thomas.”
“He lets her steal cookies.”
“I know.”
I shut the suitcase.
“For now.”
The attack came two nights later.
At 1:17 a.m., the eastern side of the estate went black.
No hallway lights.
No garden lamps.
No backup generator.
I woke instantly.
Mia slept curled beside me.
Then three soft knocks came.
“Elena,” Evelyn whispered.
I opened the door.
Her face was pale.
“Take Mia.”
“What happened?”
“Power failure.”
“That does not explain your face.”
“Someone opened the service gate from inside.”
My blood froze.
The danger was already in the house.
I lifted Mia from the bed.
She mumbled but did not wake.
We moved toward the safe room near the kitchen.
Halfway there, Thomas stepped from the shadows.
“Mia okay?”
“Yes.”
“Come with me.”
Evelyn stopped.
“The safe room is this way.”
“Protocol changed.”
“When?”
“Tonight.”
“By whose order?”
Thomas reached under his jacket.
I moved before fear could stop me.
I grabbed a brass vase from the table and slammed it into his wrist.
The gun fell.
Evelyn kicked it away.
Thomas lunged at me.
I shoved Mia behind my body.
Then Dominic hit him from the side.
Thomas crashed into the wall.
Two loyal guards came running and restrained him.
Dominic turned to me.
“Elena?”
“I’m fine.”
“Mia?”
“She’s fine.”
Mia peeked around Evelyn.
“Thomas is bad?”
Dominic looked at the man who had guarded his house for seven years.
“Yes.”
Thomas laughed.
“You still don’t understand.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“Where is Isabella?”
Thomas smiled through blood on his lip.
“She already has what she came for.”
A crash sounded upstairs.
Dominic’s face changed.
“Leo.”
He ran.
I followed.
Leo’s room was empty.
The window stood open.
Curtains blew inward.
The gray rabbit lay on the floor.
Dominic stood over the empty bed like something inside him had been torn loose.
“Lock every gate!”
His voice thundered down the hall.
“Search every car!”
I picked up the rabbit.
Something hard pressed through the fabric.
I felt along the seam.
A tracker.
“Dominic.”
He turned.
I held it up.
Minutes later, security traced the signal.
It was moving toward the marina.
Dominic and his men rushed toward the water.
I stayed with Mia and Evelyn.
Then Mia pointed at the window.
“Leo hates boats.”
I crouched.
“How do you know?”
“He showed me.”
“Are you sure?”
She nodded.
“Then why take him to the marina?”
Mia shook her head.
They wouldn’t.
The tracker was bait.
I ran to the security office and stared at the property map.
Greenhouse.
Guest cottage.
Maintenance shed.
Old cellar beneath the western garden.
My mind flashed to a drawing Leo had made.
Stairs.
A red door.
A woman.
I grabbed the radio.
“Dominic.”
Static.
Then his voice.
“What?”
“The marina is a trap. Check the old cellar.”
Silence.
Then, “On my way.”
We reached the western garden together.
The cellar door was locked from inside.
Dominic kicked it until the frame split.
We descended into damp darkness.
Leo sat against the wall.
Alive.
Beside him stood Dr. Whitmore.
And Isabella Valenti.
Isabella held a gun.
“Hello, Dominic.”
She looked like Sofia around the eyes.
That made it worse.
Dominic stopped.
“Let him go.”
“You always were poor at negotiation.”
“You want me.”
“No. I want what should have belonged to my family.”
“It belongs to Leo.”
“He is a child.”
“He is Sofia’s son.”
Isabella’s face twisted.
“Sofia took everything.”
“You killed her.”
Dr. Whitmore whispered, “Isabella, stop.”
But Isabella smiled.
“She was supposed to sign the transfer.”
“And when she refused?”
“She chose you.”
Her voice was full of old poison.
“Our father trusted her. Then she married you and handed our legacy to the Morettis.”
“So you murdered your sister?”
“I corrected a mistake.”
Dominic’s calm became terrifying.
“And Leo?”
“He saw too much after the accident.”
Dr. Whitmore’s face went white.
I understood.
Leo had seen Caroline Whitmore that night.
A little boy’s fear had been used to bury a murder.
Dr. Whitmore began to shake.
“I never agreed to murder. I was told the medicine was temporary.”
“You were paid for obedience,” Isabella snapped.
While they argued, Leo looked at me.
Mia stood behind Evelyn at the cellar entrance.
She lifted one finger to her lips.
Leo understood.
He threw the gray rabbit.
It struck Isabella’s arm.
The gun shifted.
Dominic moved.
Everything exploded.
A guard tackled Dr. Whitmore.
I ran to Leo and pulled him away.
Isabella fired.
The bullet hit stone.
Dominic grabbed her wrist.
The gun fell.
Security restrained her.
For one second, no one spoke.
Then Mia ran to Leo.
“You’re okay!”
Leo looked at her.
His voice shook, but it was clear.
“I’m okay.”
May you like
Mia smiled.
“I know.”
