Chapter 5
Victor grabbed Ethan.
Dr. Mercer shut the laptop.
I ran to the nursery door and listened.
Heavy footsteps crossed the marble foyer.
Not one person.
Several.
Serena smiled through her tears.
“You should have let me leave.”
Victor stared at her.
“Who is downstairs?”
She wiped her face.
“My brother.”
I had heard that name only once.
Serena had whispered it during a phone call in the pantry.
Caleb.
Victor pulled out his phone.
No signal.
Dr. Mercer checked his.
“Jammed,” he said.
My stomach dropped.
Victor handed Ethan to me.
“Take him to the safe room.”
Serena laughed.
“She knows where it is.”
I froze.
Victor looked at me.
“She does?”
I shook my head.
“I don’t.”
Serena’s smile widened.
“Emily showed me.”
Footsteps reached the second floor.
Victor locked the nursery door.
A man’s voice called from the hallway.
“Serena?”
She shouted, “In here!”
Victor grabbed her before she could move.
The doorknob rattled.
Then something slammed against the door.
Ethan screamed.
I pressed him to my chest and whispered, “I’ve got you. I’ve got you.”
Victor moved the crib against the door.
Dr. Mercer opened the window.
“There’s a balcony.”
“It’s too high,” I said.
“Not if we reach the service trellis.”
Another slam.
The door cracked.
Victor looked at me.
“Go.”
I climbed out first, shaking so hard I almost slipped.
Cold air hit my face.
Dr. Mercer passed Ethan to me.
The baby clung to my neck.
Victor shoved Serena toward the window.
“You too.”
She spat at him.
“You still think I’m the danger?”
The nursery door burst open.
Two men rushed in.
Victor hit the first with the lamp.
The second grabbed Dr. Mercer.
I screamed.
Ethan cried.
Serena twisted away from Victor and ran to her brother.
“Get the drive!”
Caleb looked at me on the balcony.
“She has the kid.”
Victor turned.
“Lily, run!”
I climbed down the trellis with Ethan wrapped against me.
My palms scraped.
My ribs burned.
But I did not stop.
I reached the garden and ran toward the pool house.
Behind me, shouting exploded from the balcony.
A security light flashed on.
Then the mansion alarm finally screamed.
I reached the pool house and locked the door.
Ethan sobbed against my shoulder.
I found an old landline near the bar.
Thank God.
I dialed 911.
“There are intruders at the Hale mansion,” I whispered. “A baby is in danger.”
The dispatcher asked my name.
“Lily Harper. I’m the nanny.”
Outside, footsteps crunched across gravel.
I ducked behind the sofa with Ethan.
The pool house door handle turned.
A man’s voice said, “Come out, sweetheart. Nobody needs to get hurt.”
Ethan whimpered.
I covered his mouth gently against my shoulder.
The door shook.
Then a gunshot cracked outside.
I screamed.
May you like
A second later, Victor’s voice roared through the night.
“Get away from my son.”
