Chapter 4 - SHADOWS IN THE GUEST HOUSE
Midnight. The grand estate had grown quiet as the guests departed for their hotels, leaving only the security guards patrolling the perimeter.
In the secure guest house, Denise sat beside Mabel’s bed, watching her daughter sleep peacefully with her stuffed bear tucked beneath her arm.
Despite the warm fire crackling in the hearth and the two armed guards standing outside her door, Denise could not rest. She walked over to the window, looking out over the rain-swept gardens toward the main mansion.
A faint click echoed from the terrace door.
Denise froze, her blood running cold.
She watched in horror as the glass patio door slowly creaked open. A tall man dressed in a dark rain slicker stepped into the living room, holding a silenced handgun in his gloved right hand.
It was Victor Langford’s personal driver and head of private security, Marcus Vance.
"Don't scream," Marcus hissed in a low, gravelly voice, raising the weapon toward Denise. "Where is the kid?"
Denise felt an instinctual, primal surge of maternal courage flood her veins. She grabbed a heavy bronze floor lamp standing beside the armchair, swinging it with all her strength.
CLANG!
The heavy base hit Marcus square in the shoulder, knocking him off balance.
"Help!" Denise shrieked at the top of her lungs. "Security!"
Marcus growled, lunging forward to grab her throat.
Before his fingers could make contact, the solid oak door of the guest house burst inward with explosive force.
Ethan Brooks swept into the room, sweeping Marcus’s gun arm aside with a lightning-fast tactical block. Ethan drove a devastating knee into Marcus’s midsection, followed by a sharp elbow to the jaw.
Marcus collapsed onto the carpet, groaning in agony as Ethan pinned him down, snapping heavy steel handcuffs around his wrists.
Preston Hale stepped through the shattered doorway, flanked by two armed guards, his face thunderous with rage.
"You brought violence into my home, Vance?" Preston growled, looking down at the subdued hitman. "Who sent you?"
Marcus spat blood onto the rug, remaining defiantly silent.
Ethan reached into Marcus’s coat pocket, pulling out a burner phone. The screen was still illuminated with a single unread text message from an encrypted contact labeled V.L.:
"ELIMINATE THE MAID AND THE WITNESS BEFORE DAWN. MAKE IT LOOK LIKE A BREAK-IN."
Preston looked at the screen, his jaw clenching with absolute, lethal fury.
"That's all the evidence we need," Preston said softly. "Ethan, hold him in the basement vault until morning."
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Preston walked over to Denise, who was trembling violently near the bed where Mabel was just waking up. He took off his wool coat and wrapped it gently around Denise’s shoulders.
"You were incredible, Denise," Preston said, his voice full of profound respect. "I promise you, by tomorrow night, this nightmare will be over forever."
