Chapter 16 - The Flight Through the Stone Throat
The laundry chute was a vertical steel shaft that dropped two stories into the deep sub-basement of Blackwood Manor. Daniel hoisted Ethan into the opening, his heart tearing at the terrifying risk.
"Ethan, hold your elbows in and slide your feet first," Daniel whispered frantically, cupping the boy’s terrified face. "I will be right behind you. Do you hear me? Right behind you."
Ethan nodded once, taking a deep, shuddering breath. "Mommy said the bugs aren't afraid of the dark, Daddy. I'm not afraid."
The boy let go, sliding down the smooth aluminum throat with a low swoosh, landing softly on the massive mountain of soiled bed linens in the basement below.
Upstairs, two more shots rang out, followed by a sickening, choked gasp from Detective Miller.
"Miller!" Daniel yelled, but there was no response, only the heavy, dragging footsteps of Arthur Sterling advancing down the master hallway.
Daniel threw himself into the chute, sliding feet-first into the cold darkness. He shot out into the basement, crashing into the laundry hampers, overturning baskets of towels. He scrambled to his feet instantly, his muscles burning with adrenaline, and scooped Ethan into his arms.
The basement of the 19th-century estate was a subterranean labyrinth of stone foundations, disused coal chutes, and arched brick wine vaults. Water seeped through the mortar, pooling on the flagstones.
Above them, the heavy steel cellar door at the top of the stairs creaked open. A beam of high-powered tactical light pierced the gloom, slicing through the dust motes.
"Daniel..." Arthur called, his voice ragged now, breathing hard from the gunshot wound Miller had inflicted. "You can't leave the grounds. The private security team I hired has already blocked the main iron gates. The only way anyone leaves tonight is if the boy opens the crypt."
Daniel didn't answer. He carried Ethan silently down the narrow, vaulted corridor toward the old root cellar, where a hidden wooden hatch led to the historic carriage house tunnel.
"Daddy," Ethan whispered into Daniel’s ear, pointing at the brick archway above them. "Look."
In the mortar of the archway, an iron ring hung suspended. Sarah had shown Ethan this cellar during a summer game of hide-and-seek. Beneath the iron ring was a primitive mechanical lever that once operated the estate's gravity-fed water cistern.
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Daniel looked back. Arthur was limping into view, an automatic pistol raised, his suit jacket soaked in dark blood from his shoulder. His eyes were wide, glassy with fanaticism and despair.
"Found you," Arthur snarled, raising the weapon directly at Daniel's chest.
