flash
Part 1: The Rain on Silver Street My daughter breathed, “Dad, help,” and then the connection died. Twenty-three minutes later, I stood facing my son-in-law on the porch of his family’s mansion, a baseball bat balanced across his shoulder and a vicious smile stretched across his face. / Chapter 3 / 3

Chapter 3 - The Secret Room Behind the LibraryThe grand foyer of the Thorne mansion smelled of aged leather, expensive bourbon, and old money that had been stained by generations of unchecked cruelty. Footsteps thundered behind me as Arthur screamed for his security team to ignore my badge and take me down, but the heavy thud of boots at the front entrance stopped him cold.

A rhythmic, coordinated flash of tactical tactical lights swept across the marble floor.

“Federal agents! Nobody move!”

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I didn't wait for them. I took the grand staircase three steps at a time, my lungs burning, every instinct screaming that Audrey was running out of time.

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