Chapter 5 - INTO THE DARKNESS"Move! Down the back stairs!" Frank shouted, pulling a flashlight from his pocket and shining it down the rear servants' corridor.
"I'm not leaving without my wife!" Caleb gasped, struggling to his feet. He wrapped one arm around Katherine, using his body as a shield even though he was gravely wounded. Katherine held him up, her tears drying under a newfound wave of determination.
"We go together," Katherine said firmly, locking her arm in Caleb’s. "All of us."
"Mary, take the key!" Robert suddenly shoved the small silver key into my hand. He racked the bolt of his hunting rifle. "Take Caleb and Katherine and get out through the storm cellar. I’ll hold them off at the main staircase."
I looked into my husband's eyes. The man I had shared a bed with for thirty years was a stranger to me now. A man who had committed an unforgivable crime to save his own skin, but who was now standing in the dark, preparing to die for us.
"Robert..." I whispered.
"I ruined everything, Mary," Robert said, a sad smile touching his lips in the dark. "Let me do one right thing before it’s over. Go to Switzerland. Save Beatrice. End this."
Before I could answer, gunfire erupted from the front entryway. Bullets shredded the drywall around us, sending plaster and dust flying into the air.
"GO!" Robert bellowed, turning toward the stairs and firing his rifle into the pitch-black hallway.
Frank grabbed my arm and pulled me down the narrow back staircase. Katherine and Caleb followed closely behind, leaning on each other for support. As we descended into the basement, the sound of roaring gunfire and breaking glass rang out upstairs, followed by a heavy silence... and then a single, final gunshot.
I closed my eyes, tears streaming down my face. I knew my husband was dead.
We burst through the wooden storm cellar doors into the pouring rain outside. The cool night air hit my face, smelling of thunder and fresh mud. Parked in the shadow of the garage was Frank’s heavy-duty SUV.
"Get in! Get in!" Frank yelled, unlocking the doors.
Katherine helped Caleb into the backseat, crawling in right after him. I jumped into the passenger seat as Frank slammed his foot on the gas. The SUV tore across the wet lawn, tires spinning in the mud, just as three armed men ran out of our front door, firing automatic rifles at our retreating vehicle.
Bullets slammed into the rear bumper and shattered the back window. Glass rained down on Caleb and Katherine, but Frank veered wildly onto the main road, disappearing into the thick forest fog of Oakhaven Springs.
We drove in total silence for twenty minutes, the only sound being Caleb’s agonizing groans and the heavy rain pounding against the windshield.
"Where are we going?" I asked, my voice hollow, holding the silver key tightly in my palm.
"We can't go to a hospital," Katherine said, tearing off a strip of her dress to wrap tightly around Caleb’s bleeding shoulder. "Arthur controls every medical facility in the state. If we check Caleb in, his men will kill us all in our sleep."
"I know a place," Frank said, his eyes fixed on the dark road ahead. "My old cabin near the border. It’s off the grid. No cell towers, no cameras."
Caleb reached out, weakly grabbing Katherine’s hand. His voice was barely a raspy whisper. "Katherine... I'm so sorry... I’m so, so sorry... I thought you were the one who destroyed my life..."
Katherine leaned down, pressing her lips against his bloodied forehead. "We were both played, Caleb. We were both pawns in a sick game. But it ends now."
She looked up at me in the rearview mirror.
"Tomorrow, we take the morning flight to Geneva. We are getting Beatrice out. But there’s something you need to know, Mary."
"What?" I asked, my heart pounding.
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Katherine’s eyes burned with a dark, terrifying secret.
"Arthur Pendelton isn't working alone. The person who funded his entire operation... the person who bought the psychiatric facility in Switzerland... is someone sitting right inside this car."
