Chapter 8 - THE ROOM WITHOUT WINDOWS
Elena woke in darkness.
Her wrists were tied behind the chair. Her ankles were secured with plastic restraints. A strip of fabric pressed against her mouth.
The room smelled of damp concrete and disinfectant.
There were no windows.
Only a metal door and a weak bulb hanging from the ceiling.
Her head throbbed.
She remembered the electricity failing.
Glass breaking.
A man grabbing her from behind.
She remembered striking him with a lamp and reaching the car.
Then headlights.
A second man.
A needle pressed into her arm.
After that, fragments.
Voices.
The inside of a van.
Someone arguing about the baby.
Elena tried to move.
Pain tightened across her stomach.
She froze.
The baby.
She forced herself to breathe slowly.
Footsteps approached.
The metal door opened.
A woman entered wearing a medical mask and dark clothing.
She carried a tray with water, bandages, and a syringe.
Elena’s panic rose.
The woman removed the gag.
“Do not scream.”
“Where am I?”
“You’re safe for the moment.”
“Safe?”
Elena pulled against the restraints.
“You kidnapped me.”
“I didn’t.”
“Untie me.”
“I can’t.”
“Who are you?”
The woman set down the tray.
“My name is Dr. Evelyn Shaw.”
Elena recognized it.
Evelyn Shaw had once managed a private clinic funded by the Ashford Foundation. She had disappeared from public life after an investigation into illegal medical trials.
Luke’s father had closed the clinic.
“What do you want?”
Evelyn’s eyes moved toward Elena’s stomach.
“The child.”
Elena’s face hardened.
“You will not touch my baby.”
“If I wanted to hurt the baby, I would not have kept you alive.”
“Then let me go.”
“I can’t do that either.”
Evelyn poured water into a cup and held it to Elena’s lips.
Elena turned away.
“It is only water.”
“I don’t trust you.”
“You shouldn’t.”
Evelyn placed the cup down.
“Your husband made the same mistake with his family.”
“He is not my husband.”
“He divorced you because someone convinced him you were in danger.”
Elena looked at her.
“How do you know that?”
“Because the danger was invented.”
The words matched the suspicions Elena had been afraid to form.
“Adrian?”
Evelyn’s expression remained unreadable.
“You know more than they expected.”
“Is he behind this?”
“He is behind part of it.”
“What does that mean?”
“The Ashford family is not controlled by one person. It is controlled by secrets. Whoever owns the most dangerous secret controls everyone else.”
Elena pulled at the restraints again.
“Why am I here?”
Evelyn took a small ultrasound monitor from a case.
“To confirm something.”
“No.”
“You have been exposed to a blood-thinning compound. If I do not examine you, you may lose the child.”
Elena stopped fighting.
“What compound?”
“Something added to your vitamin supplements.”
Her mind returned to the prenatal package delivered to her house two weeks earlier. The label had matched the brand recommended by her clinic.
She had taken one capsule each morning.
Evelyn lifted the syringe.
“This can counteract the effect.”
“How do I know you’re telling the truth?”
“You don’t.”
The door opened again.
A man entered.
He wore a black jacket and carried a phone.
Elena recognized him from the rental house.
He had stood at the top of the stairs during the blackout.
He handed the phone to Evelyn.
“They answered.”
“Who?”
“Mrs. Ashford.”
Elena’s pulse quickened.
“Catherine?”
The man looked at her.
“She wants confirmation the woman is alive.”
Evelyn activated the camera.
Elena turned her face away.
The man grabbed her chin.
Evelyn’s voice sharpened.
“Do not bruise her again.”
“She fought.”
“She is pregnant.”
“She broke Tomas’s nose.”
For the first time, something like approval touched Evelyn’s face.
The video call connected.
Catherine appeared on-screen.
But behind Catherine stood Luke.
Elena’s breath caught.
He looked thinner than she remembered.
Harder.
There was blood on one of his hands.
“Elena,” Luke said.
Her eyes burned.
She hated the relief his voice caused.
“Luke.”
He stepped closer to the phone in Catherine’s hand.
“Where are you?”
“I don’t know.”
“Are you hurt?”
“Yes.”
His face twisted.
“I’m coming for you.”
Elena looked toward Evelyn.
The doctor gave a tiny shake of her head.
“Luke, don’t trust—”
The man struck the phone from Evelyn’s hand and ended the call.
He turned on her.
“You were told not to let them speak.”
Evelyn stood between him and Elena.
“She needed to remain calm.”
“You’re becoming a problem.”
“You need me.”
The man’s hand moved toward his weapon.
Evelyn did not flinch.
“Without me, the child dies. And if the child dies, none of you get what you were promised.”
Elena stared at her.
“What were they promised?”
Neither answered.
The man picked up the phone and left.
Evelyn waited until the door closed.
Then she leaned toward Elena.
“Listen carefully. They will move you before sunrise.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“Help me.”
Evelyn cut one of the restraints behind Elena’s wrists, weakening it without fully removing it.
“When the lights go out, pull hard.”
“Why would the lights go out?”
May you like
Evelyn slid a small metal object into Elena’s palm.
“Because Luke Ashford is not the only person looking for you.”
