Chapter 5 - THE NIGHT EVELYN RAN
The attack came after midnight.
The guesthouse alarm screamed.
Marcus woke Evelyn.
“Get dressed.”
“What happened?”
“Someone cut the power.”
Evelyn grabbed her coat.
Outside, headlights appeared through the trees.
Three black SUVs.
Marcus swore.
“They found us.”
Evelyn's heart pounded.
“Where do we go?”
“Back door.”
They ran.
Evelyn was eight months pregnant and still recovering, but fear gave her strength.
They crossed the yard.
A man shouted behind them.
Marcus pushed open a gate.
They reached a narrow road.
A car waited.
Inside was Grant.
Evelyn stopped.
“No.”
Grant got out.
“Evelyn, please.”
Marcus stepped between them.
“You have ten seconds.”
Grant looked at Evelyn.
“My mother sent them.”
Evelyn stared.
“You're lying.”
“I wish I was.”
A vehicle turned onto the road behind them.
Grant reached for her.
“Come with me.”
“Where?”
“Somewhere she can't find you.”
Evelyn laughed.
“Your mother owns half the police department.”
“Not all of it.”
For one terrible second, Evelyn did not know what to do.
Then she saw Grant's face.
He looked terrified.
Not for himself.
For her.
She got into the car.
They drove for two hours.
Grant took her to an abandoned coastal house owned by his father.
Evelyn stood in the doorway.
“Why have you never told me about this place?”
“Because my mother doesn't know it exists.”
“Your father?”
Grant looked away.
“My father died here.”
Evelyn felt a chill.
“What happened?”
Grant did not answer.
Instead, he took a flash drive from his pocket.
“This is why I came.”
Evelyn stared at it.
“What is it?”
“Security footage.”
“From where?”
“The mansion.”
Grant handed it to her.
“I found it in my mother's office.”
Evelyn's hands shook.
“Why would you steal this?”
“Because I finally watched it.”
He looked at her.
“And I saw what happened before you entered the kitchen.”
Evelyn plugged the drive into a laptop.
The footage began.
Vivian stood in the kitchen.
She was holding the plate.
She deliberately dropped it.
Then she waited.
Evelyn watched herself enter.
She watched Vivian raise the broom.
Then she saw Grant enter.
The footage showed everything.
No question.
No confusion.
No instability.
Vivian had attacked her.
Grant had watched.
Evelyn closed the laptop.
“You knew.”
Grant looked down.
“I knew.”
“You knew she was lying.”
“Yes.”
“And you still left me.”
Grant's eyes filled with tears.
“I was afraid of her.”
Evelyn stared at him.
Then she whispered:
“So was I.”
Before Grant could respond, the house phone rang.
They both froze.
The line had been disconnected for years.
Grant slowly picked it up.
A voice spoke.
“Your father is not dead.”
Grant's face turned white.
May you like
The caller continued.
“And your mother knows where he is.”
