Chapter 8 - The Mistress Turned the Gun
Daniel stared at Vanessa’s weapon.
“You would have nothing without me.”
Vanessa laughed, but her hand shook.
“I created the psychiatric files. I found the women. I cleaned up every mistake you made.”
“You were a secretary with access to medical records.”
“And you were a broke liar in a rented suit.”
Rebecca lowered her head while my mother moved carefully toward her.
Daniel noticed.
He pulled Rebecca from the chair and placed her in front of him.
Vanessa aimed past her.
“Give me the remote, Claire.”
“It has already transmitted the recording.”
“Then give me the encryption key.”
My mother reached Rebecca and cut one of the ropes.
Daniel fired.
The bullet struck the greenhouse frame above my mother’s head.
Vanessa fired at Daniel.
Glass exploded across the snow.
I dropped behind a stone planter as police vehicles entered the property.
Daniel dragged Rebecca toward the rear exit. My mother seized his coat, and Rebecca drove her elbow into his ribs.
His gun fell.
I reached it first.
Daniel stopped when I aimed at his chest.
Snow blew through the broken walls. The same cold wind that had moved across the mansion steps now carried his frightened breathing toward me.
“You cannot shoot me,” he said. “You are not like us.”
“No.”
I held the gun steady.
“That is why you should be afraid of what I do next.”
I lowered the weapon and stepped aside.
Detective Brooks entered with armed officers.
Daniel dropped to his knees.
For the first time since I had known him, he begged.
“Claire, tell them this is a misunderstanding.”
“You told me you never loved me.”
“I was angry.”
“You shoved me into the snow while I was in labor.”
“You need me. Eleanor needs a father.”
“My daughter needs to know what a monster looks like before he learns to smile.”
Officers handcuffed him.
Vanessa ran through the rear opening.
My mother followed, but I called her back.
“Let the police take her.”
Detective Brooks’s radio crackled.
“Suspect heading toward the mansion.”
Vanessa was not escaping the property.
She was returning to the house.
My mother looked at the remote in my hand.
“The physical server.”
“You said the server was missing.”
“There are two.”
The second server was hidden inside the basement wall behind the damaged gas line. It contained the identities of judges, doctors, police officers, and attorneys who had helped Daniel and Vanessa take control of their victims.
Vanessa intended to destroy it.
Rebecca grabbed my arm.
“She cannot reach it without the architect’s master code.”
My mother went still.
Only two people knew that code.
My mother and me.
Then my phone vibrated.
A video feed from Eleanor’s hospital room appeared on the screen.
May you like
Vanessa stood beside my daughter’s crib.
Continue to the next part: Vanessa reaches Claire’s newborn before anyone realizes the hospital nurse is part of Daniel’s network.
