Eleanor's Visit

"Kai," Elena whispered. "They're here."

The footsteps above were heavy, deliberate. Not a stealthy approach, but a confident one. The sound of someone who owned the place.

"There's only one entry point," Kai said, racking the slide on the Glock. "The front door. The windows are reinforced."

"Unless they have the keys," Elena said, looking at the safe. "Like I did."

She shoved the ledger into her waistband, the leather cold against her skin. She grabbed the stack of DVDs.

"We need to get out," she said. "Is there another way?"

Kai scanned the basement. "Coal chute. Maybe."

He pointed to a small, metal door high on the wall. It was rusted shut and barely big enough for a child.

"Leo," Elena realized.

She ran to the chute. She pushed against the latch. It didn't budge.

Above them, the basement door handle jiggled. Then, a loud *thump* as someone kicked it.

"Open up, Elena," a voice called down. Not Marcus. Not Seraphina.

Julian.

"I know you're down there," he said, his voice calm, reasonable. "And I know you found the safe. Clever girl."

Elena looked at Kai. He raised the gun, aiming it at the door.

"Go away, Julian," Elena shouted. "I have the ledger. I have the videos. I'll send them to the press."

"You don't have signal down there," Julian said. "I jammed it when I arrived. Standard protocol."

Elena checked her phone. *No Service.*

"We can make a deal," Julian said. "Hand over the ledger. Hand over the baby. And you can walk away."

"Like you let Seraphina's mother walk away?" Elena asked. "Or did she 'fall' too?"

Silence.

Then, a sigh.

"She was unstable," Julian said. "Like you."

The door splintered as he kicked it again. The wood groaned, cracking around the lock.

"The chute," Kai whispered. "I can boost you."

"It's too small for me," Elena said. "But Leo..."

She looked at the sleeping baby. He fit.

But she couldn't push him out into the snow alone.

"We fight," she said.

She looked around for a weapon. The basement was full of tools. Shovels. Axes.

She grabbed a can of kerosene from the shelf.

"Lighter?" she asked Kai.

He reached into his pocket and tossed her a Zippo.

"If they come down those stairs," she said, "we burn them."

The door gave way with a crash.

Julian stood at the top of the stairs, silhouetted by the light from the kitchen. He wasn't alone. Two men stood behind him. Big. Professional.

"Don't be stupid, Elena," Julian said. "You're trapped in a concrete box. Fire kills you first."

"Maybe," Elena said. "But it destroys the evidence."

She held the lighter over the open can.

"And it destroys the heir."

Julian froze. He looked at the baby on the bed.

"You wouldn't."

"Try me," Elena said. "I'm not the mother, remember? I'm just the bankroll."

Julian stared at her. He saw the wildness in her eyes. The desperation.

He raised a hand, signaling his men to hold.

"Okay," he said slowly. "Let's talk."

"No talking," Elena said. "Back up. Into the kitchen."

"And then what?"

"And then we leave."

"And the ledger?"

"Stays with me," Elena said. "Insurance."

Julian smiled. It was a cold, predatory expression.

"You think you're clever," he said. "But you missed one thing."

"What?"

"The ventilation system."

He pulled a small canister from his pocket. It looked like a smoke grenade.

He pulled the pin and tossed it down the stairs.

It hissed. White gas began to fill the room.

"Halon," Julian said, closing the door. "It sucks the oxygen out of the room. You have about two minutes before you pass out."

The door slammed shut. The lock clicked.

Elena gasped. The air was already thinning.

"Kai!" she screamed.

Kai grabbed a heavy wrench from the workbench. He ran to the coal chute. He smashed the latch. Once. Twice.

It broke.

He pushed the door open. Cold air rushed in.

"Go!" he shouted. "Push Leo through!"

Elena grabbed the baby. She wrapped him tight in his blanket. She climbed onto the workbench.

She pushed the bundle through the small opening, into the snowbank outside.

"Now you!" Kai said.

"I don't fit!"

"Try!"

She tried to squeeze her shoulders through. Stuck.

The gas was rising. Her head swam.

"Kai," she gasped. "The ledger."

She tossed it through the hole, onto the snow next to Leo.

"Save him," she whispered.

Kai looked at her. He looked at the gas.

He grabbed her legs.

"Push!" he yelled.

He shoved her. Hard.

Her ribs scraped against the metal. Pain flared.

But she moved.

She popped out into the snow, gasping for air.

She turned back to the hole.

"Kai!"

His face appeared in the opening. He was coughing. His eyes were watering.

"Run," he choked out. "Get to the car."

Then he disappeared back into the white fog.

Elena grabbed Leo. She grabbed the ledger.

She ran.

She ran through the deep snow, toward the treeline where they had hidden the truck.

She heard the back door of the cabin open.

"Get her!" Julian shouted.

She reached the truck. She threw Leo into the passenger seat. She jumped in.

She turned the key.

The engine sputtered.

"Come on," she begged.

It caught.

She slammed it into gear. The tires spun, then gripped.

As she tore away, she looked back.

Julian was standing on the porch, watching her.

He wasn't chasing her.

He was holding a phone.

And then she saw it.

Standing in the driveway, blocking her exit.

Not a car.

A woman.

Eleanor Hawthorne.

She was holding a shotgun.

"You look terrible, dear," Eleanor called out, aiming the barrel at the windshield. "Guilt does that."