Chapter 5 - The Officer Who Chose a Side
Emma lifted her hands.
Elias remained in front of her.
Mason entered the room and closed the door behind him.
The gun remained pointed at Elias’s chest.
“You set the fire?” Emma asked.
Mason’s jaw tightened.
“No.”
“Then who did?”
“Miss Vale told another guard to destroy this room.”
“Why are you helping her?”
“I’m not.”
He lowered the gun.
Emma stared at him.
Mason removed a small radio from his belt and crushed it beneath his shoe.
“Renata monitors our communications. We have less than five minutes.”
Elias did not relax.
“You aimed a weapon at us.”
“Because the guard outside is watching through the smoke. If he thinks I arrested you, he won’t come in.”
Emma looked toward the door.
“You know about the cameras?”
“I know enough.”
Mason approached the desk.
“Celeste hired me two weeks before she died. She believed someone inside the estate was tracking Grant’s movements and copying financial files.”
“Why didn’t you tell Grant?”
“I tried. The message never reached him.”
“Renata intercepted it?”
“I don’t know.”
Elias held up the memory card.
“We found this.”
Mason stared at it.
“That may be what Celeste died protecting.”
The steel door shook again.
A voice called from outside.
“Mason? Is it secure?”
Mason answered, “I found Boone. The nanny is with him.”
“What did they take?”
“Nothing.”
There was a pause.
“Bring them out.”
Mason turned to Emma.
“Put the evidence in your uniform.”
Emma slipped the memory card and Celeste’s note into an inner pocket. Elias concealed the fabric and bracelet inside his coat.
Mason pointed the gun at them again and opened the door.
The other guard stood beyond the flames.
He was younger, nervous, and coughing.
“Miss Vale wants the nanny upstairs,” he said.
Emma’s heart lurched.
“Where is Lily?”
“In the marble bathroom.”
Mason looked at her.
She understood the warning.
Go now.
They moved through the greenhouse.
Outside, Elias suddenly shoved Mason.
Mason fired his gun into the ground.
The younger guard lunged toward Elias.
In the confusion, Emma ran.
She crossed the garden, entered through the rear doors, and sprinted up the service staircase.
Halfway to the second floor, her phone rang.
Grant’s name appeared.
She answered.
“Mr. Callahan—”
“Emma, I’m five minutes away. Is Lily all right?”
Emma stopped.
Renata must have known Grant would call. Anything Emma said could be used against her.
“She needs you here,” Emma said.
“What happened?”
“Please come directly to the family wing.”
“Emma.”
“Do not let anyone delay you at the entrance.”
Grant’s tone changed.
“I’m calling security.”
“No. Two officers only. Mason and Officer Reyes.”
“How do you know their names?”
“Because one of them may be the only reason I’m still able to speak to you.”
Silence.
Then Grant said, “I’m at the gates.”
Emma ended the call and reached the second floor.
The marble bathroom door was closed.
She heard Renata’s voice inside.
“Your father is almost home. You will tell him you burned your own hair.”
No response.
“You will tell him Emma frightened you.”
Silence.
The smell of heated metal drifted beneath the door.
Emma gripped the handle.
Locked.
She struck the door with her shoulder.
“Renata!”
Inside, something fell.
Lily made a tiny sound.
Emma stepped backward and kicked near the lock.
The door burst open.
Renata stood behind Lily with the glowing curling wand in her hand.
The rest happened quickly.
Emma rushed forward.
She shoved Renata away.
She caught Lily.
She heard Grant’s footsteps in the hallway.
And less than a minute later, Lily spoke the first word she had clearly spoken in eleven months.
“Daddy.”
Then she pointed toward the mirror.
“Mommy is behind it.”
The tiny red light blinked.
Grant stared at it.
Mason arrived moments later, soaked from the rain and covered in soot.
“Sir,” he said, “you need to remove that mirror.”
Renata moved toward the door.
Officer Reyes blocked her path.
Grant turned to Mason.
“What is behind it?”
Mason looked at Lily.
“A recording system your wife installed before she died.”
Renata laughed too loudly.
“This is madness.”
Grant faced her.
“Give me one reason not to have you detained.”
“Because I am the only person here who has been trying to protect your daughter.”
Lily began shaking in Emma’s arms.
Grant saw it.
Renata saw that he saw it.
Her expression changed.
She reached inside her silk robe.
Mason drew his gun.
“Hands where I can see them.”
Renata slowly removed a small black device.
May you like
Her thumb rested on a silver button.
“If anyone touches that mirror,” she said, “everything behind it will be destroyed.”
