Chapter 3 - The Ghost in the Hallway
We didn't have to wait long for them to make their next move.
The sound of soft, deliberate footsteps echoed from the hallway outside the nursery. Tap. Tap. Tap. Expensive leather shoes on imported Italian marble. Not the hurried scuffle of a panicked servant, but the calm, unhurried stride of someone who believed they owned the estate.
I motioned for Hunter to stay back near the far corner of the room, behind the heavy mahogany changing table. She nodded, her face pale but resolute, clutching Leo like he was a part of her own soul.
I drew the Beretta from my holster, releasing the safety with a sharp, metallic click that echoed loudly in the enclosed space.
"Who's out there?" I called out, my voice slicing through the heavy silence.
The footsteps stopped right outside the heavy oak door.
For a long moment, there was only the sound of the central air conditioning humming softly through the vents. Then, a low, familiar voice drifted through the thick wood.
"It's a tragedy, isn't it, Lorenzo?"
Richard.
My jaw clenched so hard my teeth ached. My wife's own brother—the man I had welcomed into my home, given a vice-presidency in the logistics division, and bailed out of three separate financial scandals.
"Open the door, Richard," I said, my voice eerily calm.
"I'm afraid I can't do that," Richard’s voice replied smoothly through the intercom relay he must have patched into from the hallway terminal. "You see, the board meeting is scheduled for nine o'clock tomorrow morning. Without an heir, your emergency succession clause triggers automatically, placing the voting shares into the executive trust—which I control as family trustee."
"You poisoned my son," I stated, pressing the barrel of my gun against the wood near the lock.
"I provided the necessary medical adjustments to ensure a peaceful transition," Richard corrected smoothly, sounding entirely detached, like a corporate accountant discussing a quarterly merger. "And honestly, Lorenzo, you were driving the company into the ground with your grief. It’s just business. Unfortunately, having you and a stray housekeeper locked in the nursery while the east wing undergoes a... localized electrical fire is the cleanest way to tie up loose ends."
Fire.
May you like
Before the word had even finished echoing in my mind, a sharp, acrid smell began to seep in under the bottom crack of the nursery door.
Smoke.
