Chloe's Help

The innocent accomplice.

Chloe’s small hand grabbed the back of Elena’s coat, pulling her away from the tractor. Elena spun, adrenaline surging, ready to fight whatever monster had found them in the dark corner of the shed. But it wasn't Seraphina. It wasn't a guard. It was Chloe, her eyes huge in the dim light, her breath misting in the freezing air.

"Auntie Elena?" she whispered. "Why are you hiding?"

Elena dropped the shovel. She scooped Chloe up, pressing her finger to the girl’s lips. "Shh, honey. We're playing a game. A quiet game."

Outside, the lighter hit the gas-soaked rag.

*Whoosh.*

A wall of fire erupted in the doorway, separating them from Seraphina. The heat was instantaneous, searing Elena’s face even from ten feet away.

Seraphina screamed, stumbling back from the flames. "You crazy bitch! You'll kill us all!"

"Only if you stay," Elena shouted back.

She looked around the shed. The fire was spreading fast, licking at the dry wood of the walls, climbing toward the roof. The smoke was already thick, acrid with the smell of gasoline and burning fertilizer.

There was no back door. No window. Just the wall of fire in front of them.

"We're trapped," Elena whispered.

"No," Chloe said, coughing. "Daddy made a door."

"What?"

"Daddy made a secret door," Chloe said, pointing to the floor behind the tractor. "For when he plays hide and seek with me."

Elena looked down. Under a pile of burlap sacks, there was a seam in the floorboards. A hatch.

"Show me," Elena said.

Chloe pulled the sacks away. There was a ring pull, rusted but sturdy.

Elena grabbed it. She pulled.

The hatch groaned, resisting.

"Come on," she grunted.

The fire was roaring now, consuming the front half of the shed. The heat was unbearable. Leo started to wail.

Elena pulled again, her muscles screaming. The hatch gave way.

Darkness below. A crawl space.

"Go," Elena told Chloe. "Get in."

Chloe didn't hesitate. She dropped into the hole.

Elena lowered Leo down to her. "Take him, Chloe. Hold him tight."

Chloe took the baby. She looked terrified, but determined.

Elena climbed in after them. She pulled the hatch shut just as the roof of the shed began to collapse.

It was pitch black. The air was cool and smelled of damp earth.

"Where does this go?" Elena asked, turning on the flashlight on the burner phone Chloe had given her.

"To the greenhouse," Chloe said.

They crawled. It was tight, claustrophobic. Elena had to drag herself on her elbows, the rough dirt scraping her skin raw. But they were moving. Away from the fire. Away from Seraphina.

They emerged five minutes later in the tropical warmth of the greenhouse. The air was thick with the scent of orchids and humidity.

Elena climbed out first, then pulled the children up.

They were safe. For now.

"Thank you, Chloe," Elena said, hugging her. "You saved us."

"Is Daddy okay?" Chloe asked. "I heard a noise. Like a firecracker."

Elena’s heart broke. How could she tell her? How could she explain that the father she loved was dead at the bottom of a pit, killed by the woman she called 'Auntie'?

"Daddy is... Daddy is gone, honey," Elena said.

"Gone where?"

"Away," Elena said. "He had to go away."

Chloe looked at her. She didn't cry. She just nodded, as if she understood more than she should.

"He left this for you," Chloe said.

She reached into her pocket. She pulled out a phone. Not the burner she had given Elena before. A smartphone. Marcus's phone.

"He told me to hide it," Chloe said. "He said if anything happened, I should give it to you. He said the code is my birthday."

Elena took the phone. It was cracked, but functional.

She entered the code. *0614*.

It unlocked.

She opened the voice memos.

There was one recording. Dated an hour ago.

Elena hit play.

*Marcus's voice, shaky, whispered:* "Elena. If you're hearing this, I'm dead. Seraphina won't let me leave. She knows I want to confess. She knows I want to end it. I can't save myself, but maybe I can save you. The money isn't in the Caymans. It's not in the trust. It's in crypto. The key is in the locket. The sapphire locket. The one I gave her. Get it, Elena. Get the key. And run."

The recording ended.

Elena stared at the phone.

The locket.

The sapphire pendant Seraphina wore. The one that had fallen down the stairs during the fight. The one Mrs. Gable had picked up.

The one Elena had thrown into the snow.

"We have to go back," Elena said.

"Back where?" Chloe asked.

"To the driveway," Elena said. "To the snow."

"But Mommy is there," Chloe said. "She's mad."

"Mommy isn't mad, Chloe," Elena said, standing up. "Mommy is finished."

She looked at the phone in her hand. She looked at the children.

She had the leverage. She had the map.

But she needed a weapon.

She looked around the greenhouse. She saw a pair of pruning shears on a bench.

She picked them up.

"Stay here," she told Chloe. "Lock the door. Don't open it for anyone but me."

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to find something I lost," Elena said.

She walked out into the cold night. The fire at the maintenance shed was a beacon, lighting up the sky. Sirens were wailing in the distance. The police were coming.

But Seraphina would find her first.

Elena walked toward the driveway, the shears heavy in her hand.

She wasn't running anymore.

She was hunting.