Chapter 10 - The Stranger in the Courtyard
The unfamiliar security guard stared down at Amy with cold, unblinking eyes, his fingers digging uncomfortably into the cotton fabric of her dress. The harsh overhead floodlights cast deep shadows across his sharply angular face, distorting his expression into something menacing.
“Let go of me!” Amy cried out, instinctively twisting her body to shield little Leo from the stranger, her heart pounding a frantic rhythm against her ribs. “Who are you? Get your hands off me!”
“Mrs. Harrison, step away from the vehicle,” the man said, his voice flat, gravelly, and entirely devoid of any warmth. He didn’t release his grip; instead, he stepped closer, blocking her path to the driver’s side door. “Orders are that no vehicles leave the property until Mr. Harrison resolves the domestic situation inside.”
“I don’t care about your orders!” Amy shouted, her voice cracking with rising panic as she felt the intense heat radiating from the baby against her chest. “My son has a high fever and I am taking him to the hospital right now! If you don’t let go of me this second, I will scream for help!”
“There’s no one out here to hear you, ma’am,” the guard replied stonily, his eyes darting briefly toward the burning wing of the main house where the smoke detector’s shriek was beginning to sputter and die down. “Mr. Harrison gave strict instructions to secure the perimeter. Nobody leaves. Not until the police arrive to handle the theft report.”
A cold wave of horror washed over Amy. Mark. Even after discovering his mother’s treachery, even after David exposed the entire frame-job with the security footage, Mark had still ordered the perimeter locked down. He still suspected her, or at least cared more about controlling the fallout of the estate crisis than letting his own sick child see a doctor. The realization cut deeper than any physical blow, freezing the blood in her veins.
“He... he told you to lock down the cars?” Amy whispered, the fight suddenly draining out of her, replaced by a profound, numbing despair.
“Those were my instructions,” the guard confirmed coldly.
Before Amy could muster the strength to fight back, heavy footsteps crunched rapidly across the gravel driveway behind them. Mark burst out of the rear service door of the kitchen, his dark suit jacket gone, his white shirt stained with soot and soot-smudged sweat streaking his forehead. He stopped short when he saw Amy standing by the car with the guard’s hand gripping her shoulder.
“Miller, let her go!” Mark barked, his voice laced with frantic desperation as he rushed across the courtyard.
The guard instantly released Amy’s shoulder, stepping back and offering a stiff nod. Amy stumbled backward, catching herself against the side of her car, glaring at her husband with pure, unadulterated venom.
“You told him to lock down the cars,” Amy said, her voice shaking violently as tears of fury spilled over her lashes. “You actually told him to trap me here with a sick baby.”
“Amy, listen to me, the fire is out, the police are on their way, I didn’t know Miller was going to use force—” Mark started, holding up his hands defensively as he took a step toward her.
“Don’t touch me!” Amy screamed, finally snapping as she wrenched the car door open, climbed into the driver’s seat, and slammed the door shut, locking it with a sharp click.
She turned the ignition key, the engine roaring to life instantly. Through the glass, she watched Mark run toward the front of the car, shouting something she couldn't hear over the engine, holding out his hands as if he could physically stop her from leaving.
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Amy shifted the car into reverse, her foot hovering over the accelerator, staring straight through the windshield at her husband’s desperate face just as the flashing red and blue lights of police cruisers swept across the front gates.
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