Chapter 4 - THE SECOND EXIT
Daniel heard the lock click.
He pushed against the door.
“Mom.”
No response.
He struck the wood with his shoulder.
Claire grabbed towels and wrapped Emily tightly.
“Is there another way out?”
Daniel looked around.
The guest bathroom had one small window above the bathtub. It opened onto the sloped roof above the garage.
He tested it.
The frame had been painted shut.
“Move back.”
He used a metal soap dispenser to break the latch. The window opened three inches before stopping.
Something blocked it from outside.
Claire climbed onto the bathtub.
“There’s a piece of wood screwed across the frame.”
Daniel stared at her.
The bathroom had been prepared.
Not for privacy.
For confinement.
He kicked the door once.
The frame held.
“Mom!” he shouted. “Open this door!”
Footsteps moved away down the hall.
Emily covered her ears.
Claire held her.
“It’s okay. Daddy’s getting us out.”
Daniel stepped back and kicked beside the handle.
The wood cracked.
He kicked again.
The lock tore from the frame.
They entered an empty hallway.
Music played downstairs.
Guests were laughing.
Daniel could not understand how ordinary the party sounded.
Then he noticed a smell.
Smoke.
A thin gray line curled from beneath the linen closet door.
Daniel opened it.
A bundle of towels burned inside a metal wastebasket.
He pulled the fire extinguisher from the wall and put out the flames.
Claire stared at the blackened towels.
“They locked us beside a fire.”
“They wanted the smoke alarm to create confusion.”
“Why?”
Daniel looked toward the stairs.
“To separate us again.”
He carried Emily downstairs.
Margaret stood beside the cake, leading the guests in another attempt at the birthday song.
When Daniel appeared, her expression did not change.
“Why did you lock the bathroom door?” he demanded.
Conversations stopped.
Margaret blinked.
“I didn’t.”
“You were standing outside.”
“I brought the dress and went downstairs.”
“The door locked after you left.”
“Old locks sometimes catch.”
“There was a fire in the linen closet.”
Guests murmured.
Rebecca stepped forward.
“A fire?”
“You know about it.”
“Why would I?”
Claire held up the stained dress.
“And what is on this?”
Rebecca laughed nervously.
“It looks like frosting.”
Daniel searched the room for Harold.
He was gone.
So was Owen, the teenage cousin.
Daniel moved toward the front door.
Margaret blocked him again.
“You’re not taking Emily in a towel.”
“Watch me.”
“You are humiliating her.”
“No. You did that.”
Daniel pushed past.
A group of relatives gathered near the porch.
Harold’s car blocked Daniel’s vehicle in the driveway.
The front tires of Claire’s car were flat.
Both had been cut.
Daniel looked back at the house.
Rebecca stood in the doorway.
Her face showed no amusement now.
Only calculation.
Daniel called emergency services from Claire’s phone.
The call dropped after two seconds.
He checked the signal.
There was none.
Several guests had the same problem.
Someone had activated a signal jammer.
Daniel knew because his company used similar devices during high-security government renovations.
Civilian ownership was heavily restricted.
“Whose equipment is this?” he asked.
Nobody answered.
A neighbor across the street stepped onto his porch.
Daniel shouted for him to call the police.
Margaret waved apologetically.
“Family disagreement!”
The neighbor hesitated.
Daniel pointed toward Emily.
“My daughter has been injured. Call now!”
The man hurried inside.
Rebecca walked onto the porch.
“This has gone far enough.”
Daniel faced her.
“Where is Dad?”
“How would I know?”
“Where is Owen?”
“He left.”
“With Dad?”
Rebecca shrugged.
Daniel looked toward the side yard.
A narrow gate led to the street behind the house.
He could carry Emily through it.
As he stepped off the porch, Margaret spoke quietly.
“If you leave now, you will never see the original trust agreement.”
Daniel stopped.
Claire looked at him.
“What trust agreement?”
Margaret smiled faintly.
“The one that determines who actually owns Mercer Residential Construction.”
Daniel turned.
“You’re lying.”
“Am I?”
“My company was never part of a trust.”
“You were twenty-two when the initial documents were signed. Your father handled the formation.”
“I have copies.”
“You have the copies Harold allowed you to have.”
Claire stepped closer.
“This is why the bank was mentioned.”
Margaret’s eyes stayed on Daniel.
“Come inside. Let us finish the party. Then we can discuss the documents.”
Daniel nearly laughed.
“You believe I’m going to bring my daughter back into that house?”
“I believe you will protect everything you built.”
Emily moved in his arms.
Her whisper was barely audible.
“Daddy, don’t.”
That decided it.
Daniel walked toward the side gate.
Rebecca called after him.
“Your company accounts will be frozen by Monday.”
He kept walking.
“The police will hear about the pool,” Claire said.
Rebecca’s response followed them.
“So will the newspapers when they hear Daniel assaulted his sister.”
At the gate, Daniel discovered a heavy chain looped through the latch.
Claire looked around.
“They locked every exit.”
Guests were beginning to realize the seriousness of the situation.
Several moved toward the street.
Harold appeared from behind the garage holding a key.
He was not alone.
Owen walked beside him, pale and frightened.
Harold held the teenager’s phone.
“Everyone back inside,” Harold ordered.
Owen looked at Daniel.
“She took Emily on purpose.”
Harold gripped his shoulder.
“Be quiet.”
Owen pulled away.
“She told me to record the game. I recorded the pool.”
Rebecca stepped off the porch.
“Give me the phone.”
Harold threw it to her.
Daniel lunged.
Rebecca caught it and ran inside.
Owen shouted after her.
“It already uploaded!”
Rebecca stopped in the doorway.
“What?”
Owen lifted his wrist.
He wore a small smartwatch.
“My phone backs up automatically.”
Harold’s face darkened.
He raised one hand toward the boy.
Daniel stepped between them.
“Touch him and you’ll regret it.”
A siren sounded in the distance.
The neighbor had called.
Margaret’s composure finally broke.
She turned toward Rebecca.
“Get the blue folder.”
Rebecca ran upstairs.
Daniel saw the fear pass between them.
The blue folder mattered more than the video.
Claire saw it too.
“What is in that folder?”
Margaret looked toward the approaching police car.
May you like
Then she smiled at Daniel.
“The reason Claire was never supposed to leave this house alive.”
