Chapter 6
Outside the estate, the distant wail of approaching sirens finally cut through the cold night air, bouncing off the dense line of pine trees surrounding the property. Elena stood by the front floor-to-ceiling windows, watching the faint strobing red and blue lights paint the snow-covered driveway in alternating hues. She checked her gold wristwatch with clinical precision. Exactly twelve minutes had passed since she locked the nursery door. According to her calculations, the structural timber inside the room should be nearing its absolute breaking point, perfectly timed with the arrival of the local volunteer fire department.
Marcus walked up behind her, holding a heavy woolen coat. “The local brigade is turning onto the private access road now. They’ll expect us to be frantic, Elena. We need to play our parts convincingly.”
Elena slipped her arms into the coat sleeves without breaking her steady gaze toward the driveway. “We are grieving parents who discovered too late that the ancient electrical wiring had short-circuited the west wing. There is no need for excessive theatrics. Authenticity in grief lies in quiet shock, not screaming.”
As the fire truck crunched to a halt on the gravel outside, its powerful headlights swept across the front facade of the mansion, illuminating the smoke pouring from the second-story windows. Elena turned toward the heavy oak front door, smoothing down the front of her skirt and ensuring her expression radiated a fragile, hollow vulnerability. She wanted the first responders to see a mother broken by tragedy, entirely unaware that the trap had been sprung by her own hand.
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Marcus paused at the threshold, his hand resting on the brass handle. “And if the child somehow reached the service shaft?” he asked in a low, urgent whisper.
Elena paused, her hand hovering over her collar. A cold, calculating gleam returned to her eyes for a split second before she masked it behind a soft sigh. “The service shaft terminates in the sealed lower foundation cellar, Marcus. The heavy iron security hatch was bolted shut from the outside this afternoon. Even if she crawled down there, she has nowhere to run. The smoke will find her regardless of which room she hides in.”
