Chapter 9 - THE LIGHTS WENT OUT
Emma did not run.
Running would answer the question on Adrian’s face.
She picked up the umbrella stand instead.
“Sorry,” she said. “Caught my foot.”
Adrian leaned against the doorframe.
“What are you doing back here?”
“Looking for umbrellas.”
“In the wall?”
Emma glanced at the open vent panel.
Her pulse hammered.
“Draft was rattling it.”
Adrian smiled.
“You’re a terrible liar.”
“So I’ve been told.”
He stepped closer.
“Did you hear anything?”
Emma met his eyes. “Should I have?”
For a moment, neither moved.
Then Brooke appeared behind him.
“What’s going on?”
“Emma was fixing a vent,” Adrian said.
Brooke’s eyes went to the panel.
Then to Emma.
“You’re very committed to this house.”
“It pays my health insurance.”
Brooke almost laughed.
Adrian did not.
Emma walked past them.
Her legs did not start shaking until she reached the laundry corridor.
She called Dominic.
No answer.
She texted two words.
ADRIAN. BROOKE.
Then the entire mansion went black.
The lights snapped off so completely that Emma heard the building breathe.
A second later, emergency lights should have come on.
They didn’t.
From upstairs, glass shattered.
Someone screamed.
Emma ran.
In Dominic’s office, he was already on his feet.
Luca’s voice came through the radio.
“Main generator didn’t engage. Security network is down.”
“Manual lock?” Dominic asked.
“Trying.”
“Where’s Natalie?”
“West sitting room with Noah.”
Dominic moved into the hall.
The storm outside flashed white through the windows.
For half a second, the long gallery lit up.
A man in a security uniform was moving fast toward the west wing.
“Mason!” Dominic shouted.
The man did not stop.
Mason Keene was a house security supervisor Brooke had recommended three months earlier.
Dominic ran.
Another flash of lightning.
Mason reached the west sitting room.
Dominic heard Natalie shout.
“No! He stays with me!”
Mason’s voice was calm. “Mrs. Mercer, we have a possible electrical fire. I need to move the child.”
Dominic rounded the corner.
“Mason.”
The guard turned.
His face changed when he saw Dominic.
That was enough.
Dominic lunged.
Mason swung first.
The punch caught Dominic across the cheek.
Dominic drove him into the wall.
A framed painting crashed to the floor.
Natalie pulled Noah behind a sofa.
Mason reached inside his jacket.
Dominic trapped his wrist and slammed it against the wall.
A keycard fell to the carpet.
Not a weapon.
A master gate card.
Mason twisted free and ran toward the service stairs.
Dominic started after him.
Then Noah screamed.
“Mom!”
Natalie was gone.
The west sitting room’s garden door stood open.
Rain blew across the carpet.
Dominic looked outside.
A black SUV raced away across the lower drive.
No headlights.
Luca’s voice snapped over the radio as the backup system returned.
“Gate three just opened.”
Dominic grabbed Noah’s shoulders.
“Who took your mom?”
Noah was crying too hard to answer.
Emma reached them.
She looked toward the open door, then down at the carpet.
Something silver lay near the threshold.
Natalie’s bracelet.
Wrapped around it was a strip of paper.
Dominic picked it up.
Four words were written in black ink.
BRING THE BLUE BOX.
ALONE.
—
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