Chapter 5 - The Night the House Went Dark)
Emergency lights glowed red through the underground archive.
Ethan grabbed Lily's hand.
"We're leaving."
Victoria stepped toward the surveillance console.
"No. If Daniel controls the house, the main doors may be locked."
"The windows aren't."
"You don't know this system."
"And apparently you do."
Victoria stared at him.
"Enough to know running blindly is exactly what he wants."
Elena held the flash drive.
"Then what?"
Ethan remembered something.
His grandfather had designed two electrical systems.
One modernized over the years.
One mechanical backup system nobody ever used.
"There's a service exit through the wine cellar."
They moved quickly.
Lily remained between Elena and Ethan.
Victoria followed.
No one trusted her.
But leaving Victoria alone seemed more dangerous than keeping her close.
At the service corridor, Ethan heard footsteps overhead.
Not one person.
Several.
"He's inside."
Victoria whispered, "Daniel never works alone."
Ethan looked at her.
"How many?"
"I don't know."
"Guess."
"Three. Maybe four."
Elena looked at Lily.
"We need to get her out."
Ethan nodded.
The wine cellar opened into a storage garage on the east side of the property.
From there, an old gardener's road reached the woods.
But when they approached the cellar, the door was open.
Ethan stopped.
Someone had been there.
Wine bottles lay shattered across the floor.
A security guard was unconscious near the wall.
Ethan checked him.
Breathing.
No visible major injury.
His radio was missing.
Victoria looked away.
"Daniel."
Ethan pointed.
"Stay here."
He moved toward the exterior door.
Locked.
The electronic keypad was dead.
Elena noticed an old metal release beneath the frame.
She pulled it.
Nothing.
Victoria crouched beside the unconscious guard.
"His keys."
Ethan searched his jacket.
Gone.
Lily whispered, "Someone's coming."
The adults froze.
Footsteps above.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Then Daniel's voice carried through the cellar.
"Ethan."
Elena pulled Lily behind a wine rack.
Ethan stood in the center.
Daniel appeared at the top of the stairs.
Gray hair.
Trim beard.
Dark coat.
Older than Ethan remembered.
Alive.
Very much alive.
"Seven years," Ethan said.
Daniel descended one step.
"You look like your father."
"My father believed you were dead."
"Your father believed many convenient things."
Elena stepped into view.
"Why did you threaten me?"
Daniel smiled.
"Because you wouldn't listen."
"You made me believe Ethan was in danger."
"He was."
"From you."
"From everyone."
Ethan raised his phone.
"I've called the police."
Daniel didn't react.
"No, you haven't."
Ethan checked the screen.
No signal.
Again.
Daniel smiled.
"Mercer House has always been excellent at keeping things inside."
Victoria stepped forward.
"Leave."
Daniel finally looked at her.
"You were easier to manage when you were younger."
"You made me destroy my life."
"You did that yourself."
Victoria's face tightened.
Ethan didn't defend her.
Daniel pointed toward Elena.
"Give me the drive."
"No."
"It's not yours."
"What is it?"
"Insurance."
"Against who?"
Daniel's smile disappeared.
"People your father was too weak to confront."
Ethan glanced toward the unconscious guard.
"Did you attack him?"
"I asked for access. He refused."
"You're going to prison."
"Perhaps."
Daniel took another step.
"But not tonight."
Elena noticed movement behind him.
Another man.
Then a second.
Ethan saw them too.
Victoria whispered, "There's a tunnel."
Ethan looked at her.
"What?"
"Behind the third wine rack."
"How do you know?"
"I found it years ago."
Daniel heard.
His eyes narrowed.
Ethan shoved the rack.
A hidden passage appeared.
"Go."
Elena entered with Lily.
Victoria followed.
Ethan backed toward it.
Daniel descended faster.
"Ethan, if you open that drive without understanding what it contains, you will destroy more than your family."
"Good."
Ethan entered the passage and slammed the hidden door.
They ran.
The tunnel was narrow.
Old brick.
Dust filled the air.
Lily stumbled.
Ethan caught her.
For one strange second, father and daughter stared at each other.
"Got you," Ethan said.
Lily nodded.
She squeezed his hand.
Something inside him shifted.
Not proof.
Not yet.
But recognition.
At the end of the tunnel, Victoria opened an iron gate.
Cold night air rushed inside.
They emerged behind the greenhouse.
Ethan's car stood nearby.
"Keys?"
He checked his pocket.
Still there.
They ran.
Behind them, lights returned throughout Mercer House.
Every window illuminated at once.
Daniel stood at an upstairs window.
Watching.
Ethan started the engine.
They escaped through the service road.
Five minutes later, Elena finally breathed again.
"Where are we going?"
Ethan looked in the mirror.
"Somewhere Daniel doesn't know."
Victoria laughed.
"Daniel knows every Mercer property."
"Not this one."
He turned south.
Victoria studied him.
"Where?"
"My mother's house."
Victoria's face lost color.
Elena noticed.
"What's wrong?"
Victoria stared through the windshield.
"Ethan's mother has been dead for twelve years."
May you like
Ethan's hands tightened around the steering wheel.
"That's what everyone thinks."
