Chapter 4 - The Sound of the Key
The metallic screech of the attic door unlatching sent a wave of paralyzing panic through Chloe’s entire body. She scrambled backward into the shadows behind a towering stack of steamer trunks, clutching the brass-bound ledger tightly to her chest. The beam of a high-powered tactical flashlight swept violently across the dusty floorboards, kicking up a cloud of amber dust motes that danced in the harsh light.
"I told you I heard a noise up here, Marcus," Eleanor’s sharp voice rang out from the doorway, her heels clicking angrily against the unvarnished wood. "The service window on the balcony is unlatched. That ungrateful little thief must have crawled back inside to steal something else."
Marcus stepped into the attic light, his dark suit jacket discarded now, revealing his white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his forearms. His expression was not one of concern, but of calculated annoyance as he scanned the cluttered room with cold, calculating eyes.
"Find her and get those documents back if she managed to get into the desk," Marcus ordered tersely, his voice dropping to a harsh whisper that carried easily across the room. "If the police or Harrison find out about the pre-nuptial amendments before the transfer is finalized, we’ll lose everything. Every single asset will revert to the estate trust."
Chloe held her breath, pressing herself so flat against the wall that the old wallpaper pattern seemed to imprint itself onto her back. The flashlight beam swept closer and closer, illuminating the empty space where the glass paperweight usually sat on the mahogany writing desk.
"Marcus, look at the desk!" Eleanor shrieked, her voice pitching upward in sheer panic as she rushed toward the furniture. "The ledger is gone! The private journal with all the corporate accounts and medical directives is missing!"
Marcus strode over to the desk in two long strides, his heavy hand slamming down onto the wood with a force that made the entire piece rattle.
"Search every box, every crate, every corner of this attic right now," Marcus snarled, his face twisting into an ugly grimace of rage. "She can't have gotten far. If she has those papers, we are completely ruined."
As their footsteps began to move directly toward her hiding spot, Chloe’s eyes darted around the dim room desperately searching for an escape route. The service balcony window was twenty feet away across an open expanse of flooring where the flashlight beam was currently sweeping back and forth. There was a loose floorboard near her left foot, covering a narrow vertical shaft that led down into the second-floor linen closet directly below. Without a second thought, Chloe slipped her feet into the dark opening, lowering herself silently into the vertical void just as Eleanor kicked over the trunk she had been crouching behind only seconds before.
"She’s not here!" Eleanor screamed in frustration, kicking the wooden box again. "Where is she hiding?"
Hanging by her fingertips inside the dark, dusty shaft, Chloe listened to the furious sounds of the search above her while praying they wouldn't look down.
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Suddenly, a heavy object dropped onto the floor directly above her head, followed by Marcus’s chilling voice whispering, "Check the security cameras downstairs; she might have dropped her phone."
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