Chapter 11 - The Watcher in the Dark
Sirens began to echo in the far distance—not police sirens, but the private security escorts arriving for the morning summit.
Carrying Leo down the narrow service dumbwaiter was impossible; she had to take the main stairwell.
Clara wrapped the blanket securely around her son, tying it across her chest with her heavy apron strings to keep her hands free.
She moved into the east gallery, the grand portraits of deceased Vance patriarchs staring down in silent condemnation.
At the bottom of the grand curved staircase stood Julian, the revolver still in his grip, flanked by four armed personal security contractors.
The front doors were barred, heavy iron chains draped across the ornate bronze handles.
"There is no way out of this house, Sarah," Julian called up, his voice cracking with unhinged exhaustion.
"Give me the boy."
"I will call Isaac to treat him."
"If you walk down those stairs, my men will take him from your arms by force."
Clara stopped at the landing, seventy feet above the marble foyer.
"You gave him poison, Julian!" she screamed, her voice reverberating against the vaulted glass ceiling.
"Look at his face!"
"He is suffocating on Victoria's sedatives, and you stand there worrying about your shareholder votes!"
One of the security contractors, a burly former marine with graying temples, glanced uneasily between Julian and the pale child tied to Clara’s chest.
"Mr. Vance," the guard muttered, lowering his sidearm slightly.
"The kid looks cyanotic."
"We need to call an EMT immediately."
"Stand down, Miller!" Julian roared, turning his weapon toward his own guard.
"I pay you to take orders, not to play pediatrician!"
That momentary distraction was all Clara needed.
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From the shadows behind the guards, a heavy oak credenza tipped over with a thunderous crash, spilling crystal decanters and shattering across the marble floor.
Mrs. Gable charged from the service hall, armed with a pressurized commercial fire extinguisher, unleashing a blinding cloud of white chemical fog directly into the faces of Julian’s men.
