Chapter 6 - The Ghost in the Rain
A freezing autumn downpour lashed against Daniel’s face as he shoved Noah and Lily out through the low stone doorway into the muddy rose garden.
The rain felt like heaven against their blistered skin.
Daniel scrambled out behind them, collapsing onto the wet grass, pulling both children against his chest. They lay there for three precious seconds, greedily inhaling the clean, cold night air, coughing up black soot.
Above them, Mercer Manor was dying.
Flames were roaring through the shattered windows of the second floor, illuminating the driving rain in shades of brilliant, terrifying orange and gold. The grand slate roof was already buckling under the intense heat.
“Are you hurt? Either of you?” Daniel checked Noah’s arms, his legs, his face. The boy was bruised, scraped, and covered in soot, but he was breathing. Lily was shivering violently in her damp pink dress, but her eyes were clear, her tiny hands clutching Daniel’s wrist.
“I’m okay, Dad,” Noah rasped, his voice trembling. “Lily’s okay.”
Noah reached into his soaked pocket and pulled out the metal thumb drive. He pressed it into Daniel’s palm.
“She said she killed Mom with heart drops,” Noah whispered, his tears mixing with the rain. “She bragged about it, Dad. She said she was going to take everything and blame it on an electrical fire.”
Daniel closed his fist around the cold metal drive. Clara’s face flashed in his memory—her warm smile, her gentle laugh, the woman he had loved since they were twenty years old. The woman who had been murdered in her own bed by the viper he had brought into their home.
Suddenly, the blinding glare of twin halogen headlights swept across the rose garden.
At the end of the circular gravel driveway, Vanessa’s silver Porsche Cayenne roared to life. The luxury SUV reversed violently, tearing up the manicured lawn, before slamming into drive.
She wasn't escaping toward the main gates.
Through the rain-streaked windshield of the SUV, Daniel saw Vanessa’s face. It was twisted into an expression of unhinged, feral madness. She had seen them emerge from the cellar.
She turned the steering wheel sharply, aiming the two-ton vehicle directly across the lawn toward Daniel and the children.
May you like
The engine screamed. The SUV surged forward, accelerating across the grass, mud spraying from its tires.
***
