Chapter 5 - NO WAY OUT
Someone screamed.
Chairs scraped across the marble.
Guests rushed backward.
Daniel pulled his hand from inside his jacket.
Evelyn’s heart stopped.
It wasn’t a gun.
It was a phone.
But the panic had already exploded.
“Everybody calm down!” Marcus shouted.
Daniel shoved Chloe away and ran.
“Daniel!” she screamed.
He crashed into a waiter, sending a tray of champagne flying.
Glasses shattered.
People scattered.
Two security guards chased him through the side hall.
Evelyn kicked off her heels.
Marcus grabbed her arm.
“Where are you going?”
“After him.”
“Are you insane?”
“He knows the house.”
“So do security.”
“Not the private corridors.”
She pulled free.
“Evelyn!”
Too late.
She ran.
Her silver gown made it difficult, so she grabbed the fabric and tore a long slit up the side.
The sound would have horrified the designer.
She didn’t care.
She sprinted through the east hallway.
Daniel had always loved shortcuts.
He hated closed doors.
He hated waiting.
He hated losing.
Which meant he would not head for the main driveway.
He would take the old service passage behind the library.
Evelyn turned.
There.
A hidden door stood open.
She ran through it.
The passage was narrow and dark.
Her bare feet slapped against cold stone.
Ahead, she heard breathing.
“Daniel!”
Silence.
Then footsteps.
Faster.
She chased him down the passage toward the old wine cellar.
“Stop running!”
His laugh echoed ahead.
“You always were bad at knowing when to quit!”
She reached the cellar.
Empty.
Rows of wine bottles.
A side door creaked.
Evelyn ran toward it.
Suddenly Daniel stepped from behind a rack and grabbed her.
She gasped.
His hand clamped over her mouth.
He slammed her against the stone wall.
Pain shot through her shoulder.
“You stupid woman,” he whispered.
She bit his palm.
He cursed and pulled away.
Evelyn drove her knee upward.
Daniel doubled over.
She shoved him.
He fell into a wine rack.
Bottles crashed.
Red wine splashed across the floor like blood.
Daniel grabbed her ankle.
She fell hard.
Pain tore through her hip.
He crawled over her.
“You ruined everything.”
“You did that yourself.”
He grabbed her throat.
Evelyn clawed at his wrist.
“You think this house makes you powerful?”
His face twisted.
“You think money makes you better than me?”
She couldn’t breathe.
Then a voice thundered behind him.
“Get off her!”
Marcus.
Daniel turned.
Marcus tackled him.
They crashed into another rack.
Wood broke.
Bottles fell.
Evelyn rolled away, coughing.
Daniel punched Marcus once.
Twice.
Marcus hit back.
Hard.
Daniel stumbled.
Evelyn stood, grabbed a heavy bottle of Bordeaux, and raised it.
Daniel saw her.
“Do it.”
She froze.
He smiled.
“Come on.”
Marcus was bleeding from the lip.
Daniel opened his arms.
“Hit me.”
Evelyn’s hand shook.
“Give them the monster you keep pretending I am.”
She lowered the bottle.
Daniel laughed.
“Still weak.”
Then he shoved Marcus aside and ran through the rear cellar door.
Outside, police shouted.
Daniel disappeared into the garden.
Marcus looked at Evelyn.
“Stay here.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“Evelyn—”
“I’m done staying behind.”
They ran outside.
Police officers moved across the lawn with flashlights.
One shouted, “We have movement near the south wall!”
Evelyn knew the wall.
And she knew what was behind it.
A private road.
A vehicle could be waiting there.
Marcus looked at her.
“You think he planned an escape?”
Evelyn stared toward the darkness.
“No.”
A black SUV engine roared beyond the wall.
May you like
Her stomach dropped.
“I think someone planned it for him.”
