Chapter 2 - THE BASEMENT
Julian ran inside.
I followed.
Arthur grabbed my arm.
“You're not entering my home.”
I looked down at his hand.
“Take it off me.”
Something in my voice made him obey.
Miriam moved toward the doorway.
“Elias, you're behaving irrationally.”
“My daughter just screamed for help.”
“She is confused.”
“No.”
I stepped past her.
“You're scared.”
The foyer was enormous.
Marble floors.
Crystal chandelier.
Oil paintings.
A staircase wide enough for ten people.
Everything polished.
Everything expensive.
Everything clean.
But halfway across the foyer, I saw three drops of blood.
Fresh.
“Where does the basement entrance go?”
Arthur said nothing.
I followed the blood.
A hallway led toward the rear of the mansion.
Julian appeared at the far end.
The bat was gone.
“Get out!”
I kept walking.
He reached behind him and slammed a door.
A lock clicked.
Then another.
I stopped.
Behind the door, something heavy scraped across the floor.
“Dad!”
Audrey.
Weak.
Close.
“I'm here!”
I grabbed the handle.
Locked.
Julian stood six feet away.
“You break that door and I'll have you arrested.”
I turned toward him.
“Give me the key.”
“Go to hell.”
Arthur came running down the hallway.
“This has gone far enough.”
“You're right.”
I looked at him.
“It has.”
Sirens sounded in the distance.
Julian's face changed.
“You did call them.”
“One of my people did.”
“What people?”
Headlights swept through the foyer windows.
Multiple vehicles.
Julian stepped toward the window.
Black SUVs rolled up the driveway.
Marcus Reed got out first.
Former Special Operations master sergeant.
Fifty-eight years old.
Gray hair.
Bad knee.
Still the toughest man I had ever known.
Daniel Cross climbed out behind him.
Samuel Ortiz.
Benjamin Holt.
Then five more men.
Older.
Slower.
Scarred.
Quiet.
They weren't carrying guns.
They didn't need to.
Tonight wasn't about fighting.
Tonight was about witnesses.
Marcus entered through the open front door.
He looked at me.
“Colonel?”
I pointed at the locked door.
“My daughter is behind that.”
Marcus's expression changed.
“Understood.”
Julian raised both hands.
“Nobody touches that door!”
Marcus looked at him.
“Who are you?”
“This is my house.”
Marcus nodded.
“Didn't ask whose house.”
Julian stared at him.
“I asked who you are.”
For the first time, Julian didn't have an answer.
Blue lights appeared outside.
State police vehicles turned into the driveway.
An ambulance followed.
Then another car.
A dark sedan.
Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Rachel Warren stepped out.
I had met her twice before through veterans' charity work.
I hadn't called her.
Marcus had.
Smart.
Julian ran toward the foyer.
“This is ridiculous!”
Two state troopers entered.
One raised his hand.
“Everyone stay where you are.”
Julian immediately transformed.
His shoulders dropped.
His voice softened.
“Officer, thank God you're here.”
I almost admired how quickly he did it.
“My father-in-law is having some kind of episode.”
I said nothing.
The trooper looked at me.
“Sir?”
“My daughter called me tonight asking for help.”
“She is mentally unstable,” Julian interrupted.
Rachel entered behind the officers.
“Where is she?”
Julian hesitated.
That hesitation mattered.
Rachel noticed.
“So where is Audrey Thorne?”
“She is resting.”
A weak pounding came from behind the basement door.
Three knocks.
Pause.
Three knocks.
Pause.
Three knocks.
SOS.
Marcus looked at me.
We both knew it.
I stepped toward the door.
“That is my daughter.”
Rachel faced Julian.
“Open it.”
He folded his arms.
“Do you have a warrant?”
Rachel stared at him.
Then another sound came through the door.
A woman choking.
Followed by a crash.
The senior trooper didn't hesitate.
“Emergency circumstances.”
He kicked the door once.
The lock held.
Marcus looked at him.
“May I?”
The trooper almost smiled.
“Be my guest.”
Marcus hit the door beside the lock.
Once.
Twice.
The frame split on the third blow.
The door flew inward.
A staircase disappeared into darkness.
The smell came first.
Mold.
Bleach.
Human waste.
Then something else.
Fear has a smell.
Anyone who has spent enough time around suffering knows it.
I went down first.
At the bottom of the stairs was another locked door.
On the floor beside it lay Audrey's wedding ring.
Covered in blood.
I picked it up.
Then I heard Julian behind me whisper one sentence.
“You don't understand what she did.”
I turned around.
“What did she do?”
May you like
Julian smiled.
“She tried to leave.”
