Chapter 2 - THE MAN WITH THE BLACK CASE
Lorelai moved first.
She grabbed Gemma and pulled her toward the stairs.
Sabina caught her by the back of her sweater.
“No, you don’t.”
Rosamund shoved Sabina’s hand away.
“Leave them alone!”
For the first time, Sabina lost control.
She lunged.
Rosamund blocked her.
A lamp crashed to the floor.
Gemma screamed.
Upstairs, Elliot Crane stopped walking.
He heard the noise.
Then he calmly continued toward the staircase.
Inside the monitoring room, Chadworth reached for the door.
Marcus stepped in front of him.
“Wait.”
“My daughters are down there.”
“I know.”
“Move.”
“Sir, we don’t know who else is involved.”
“I don’t care.”
“You should.”
Marcus pointed to a screen.
The front gate.
A second vehicle had entered the property.
Black SUV.
No license plate visible.
Chadworth stared at it.
Marcus continued.
“If you walk downstairs now and there are armed people inside, you turn yourself into another problem.”
Chadworth clenched his jaw.
“So what do you suggest?”
“We isolate the house. Lock exterior gates. Call my team quietly. Then we go.”
Chadworth nodded.
“Do it.”
Downstairs, Elliot entered the living room.
Sabina immediately stepped away from Rosamund.
“You’re late.”
“I came as quickly as I could.”
Rosamund stared at him.
“Mr. Crane?”
Elliot’s eyes met hers.
There was no surprise in them.
That frightened her more.
“You were supposed to be off today,” he said.
Rosamund instinctively moved in front of the girls.
Sabina folded her arms.
“She wouldn’t leave.”
Elliot sighed.
“This complicates things.”
Lorelai looked between the adults.
“What’s happening?”
Nobody answered.
Then Elliot placed the black case on the dining table.
He removed a document.
“Sabina, where’s the original?”
“In Chadworth’s office.”
“You said you had it.”
“I have a copy.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
Their voices were sharp now.
Businesslike.
This wasn’t about Rosamund.
This was bigger.
Rosamund understood that too.
“What original?” she asked.
Sabina looked at her.
“None of your business.”
Elliot stepped closer to Rosamund.
“Take the children upstairs.”
Rosamund didn’t move.
“Why?”
“Because I told you to.”
“You don’t work here.”
His mouth tightened.
Sabina laughed softly.
“She’s always been a problem.”
Elliot reached into the black case.
Rosamund saw the syringe.
Her eyes widened.
Lorelai saw it too.
“What’s that?”
Elliot quickly closed his hand around it.
“Nothing.”
Rosamund backed away.
“Girls, behind me.”
Sabina’s voice turned cold.
“You really should have taken the day off.”
Rosamund stared at her.
“What were you planning?”
Sabina walked closer.
“Something that would have been much easier without you.”
Then the mansion lights went out.
Everything turned black.
Gemma screamed.
Chadworth had killed the power from the security room.
Emergency lights flickered on seconds later.
Marcus opened the door.
“Now.”
Chadworth ran.
He had never moved that fast through his own house.
Down the private corridor.
Past the wine cellar.
Through the rear gallery.
Every second felt too long.
Then he heard Lorelai scream.
“DAD!”
Chadworth burst into the living room.
Everyone froze.
Sabina’s face went white.
Elliot dropped the syringe.
Rosamund stared at him.
And Gemma ran straight into his arms.
“Daddy!”
Chadworth held her against his chest.
His eyes stayed on Sabina.
“You thought I was in Canada.”
No one moved.
Sabina’s lips parted.
“Chadworth…”
He looked at the syringe on the floor.
Then at Elliot.
“What were you going to do?”
Elliot raised his hands.
“This is not what it looks like.”
Chadworth laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“That sentence has never made anyone look less guilty.”
Marcus and two security officers entered behind him.
“Everybody stays where they are.”
Sabina looked at Chadworth.
“You were spying on me?”
He ignored her.
He looked at Lorelai.
“Come here.”
She moved toward him slowly.
He saw the fear in her face.
Then he saw something else.
A fading bruise near her wrist.
His entire body went cold.
“Who did that?”
Lorelai looked at Sabina.
Sabina immediately said, “She fell.”
Lorelai shook her head.
“No.”
The room went silent.
Chadworth crouched in front of his daughter.
“Tell me.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“She said if I told you…”
Chadworth swallowed.
“What did she say?”
Lorelai looked toward Sabina.
“She said you’d send us away.”
Chadworth stood.
Sabina stepped backward.
May you like
Then Lorelai added quietly:
“And she said Mom’s death was our fault too.”
