Chapter 14 - The Bloodless Crime
Elena did not follow the blood trail.
She called Dana from a wired phone inside the nurses’ station.
No answer.
She called Caleb.
No answer.
Then Dr. Reyes.
Nothing.
The hospital network had failed again.
But the landline worked.
Elena called 911.
That reached someone.
She reported Marcus missing.
Possible abduction.
Then she returned to her room.
Victoria expected Elena to chase.
So Elena did the opposite.
She searched.
Marcus’s coat was gone.
His shoes were gone.
His wallet remained.
His phone remained.
Wedding ring planted.
That meant someone had removed him while dressed.
Not dragged.
Not attacked inside the room.
Possibly drugged elsewhere.
Elena checked the water bottle Marcus had been drinking.
A faint film floated near the bottom.
She did not touch it.
Then she noticed the visitor badge on the chair.
Marcus had left the room voluntarily.
The badge contained a handwritten note.
KESSLER - CELLAR EVIDENCE.
Marcus had gone somewhere after receiving a message.
Someone lured him.
Elena called the hospital security desk from the landline.
This time a guard answered.
“Check loading dock cameras.”
“Ma’am, who is this?”
“Elena Ashcroft.”
There was a pause.
“I need you to locate Marcus Ashcroft.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Do not rely on the internal network timestamps.”
Another pause.
“How did you—”
“Just do it.”
Three minutes later.
“Mrs. Ashcroft?”
“Yes.”
“We have Mr. Ashcroft on an analog parking camera.”
“When?”
“About twenty minutes ago.”
“Where?”
“He entered a black maintenance van.”
“Alone?”
The guard hesitated.
“He appears to be walking.”
“Who is driving?”
“Can’t see.”
“License plate?”
“Covered.”
Elena closed her eyes.
Marcus had left voluntarily.
Then disappeared.
Victoria needed leverage.
Not death.
At least not yet.
The estate.
Elena knew where he had been taken.
She called Dana’s precinct directly.
Then Caleb’s private office.
Then Ruth.
Finally, someone answered.
Ruth.
“Elena?”
“Is Caleb with you?”
“No.”
“Where is he?”
“He went to check the estate generators.”
“When?”
“An hour ago.”
Elena felt cold.
Victoria had removed Caleb too.
Two protectors.
One night.
“What did he say?”
Ruth hesitated.
“He received a message from Mr. Marcus.”
Elena shut her eyes.
Fake messages.
Fake voices.
Fake emergencies.
“Ruth, listen carefully.”
“Yes?”
“Do not go anywhere.”
“I won’t.”
“Lock the doors.”
“I will.”
“And if you hear my voice telling you to open them?”
Ruth understood.
“Call you first.”
“Exactly.”
Dana arrived fifteen minutes later with officers.
Elena explained everything.
Dana’s face hardened.
“We’re going to the estate.”
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Elena, you were in premature labor four hours ago.”
“And Victoria knows every police entrance to that house.”
Dana stared.
“So do I.”
Marcus once showed Elena a maintenance tunnel beneath the east garden.
Edward used it during renovations.
Victoria probably knew it.
But maybe she did not know Elena knew.
Dr. Reyes tried to stop her.
Elena promised she would remain in Dana’s vehicle.
That promise lasted twenty-eight minutes.
At Ashcroft Manor, the front gate stood open.
No lights.
No alarms.
Dana’s team entered from the front.
Elena waited.
Three minutes.
Five.
Then her phone vibrated.
A picture.
Marcus tied to a chair.
Alive.
A message beneath.
EAST CELLAR.
COME ALONE.
Elena stared.
Too obvious.
Victoria expected her to show Dana.
Expected officers to rush east.
So Victoria would be west.
Elena left the car.
She entered through the greenhouse tunnel.
The passage smelled of damp earth.
She moved slowly.
Every few feet she stopped.
Listened.
No voices.
No red dress.
No perfume.
At the west cellar door she found Caleb unconscious.
Alive.
Pulse strong.
Elena called Dana.
“West cellar.”
Then she entered.
Marcus lay on a cot.
Unconscious.
No visible injuries.
Elena checked his breathing.
“Marcus.”
His eyes moved.
“Elena?”
“Yes.”
He tried to sit.
“No.”
“What happened?”
“You were drugged.”
He looked around.
“Victoria.”
“Yes.”
“She called me using Kessler’s voice.”
“I know.”
Marcus grabbed Elena’s hand.
“Why are you here?”
“To get you.”
“You shouldn’t be.”
“I know.”
A slow clap came from the doorway.
Elena turned.
Victoria stood there.
Not a hallucination.
Not a projection.
Not a voice.
The crimson dress.
White gloves.
Jasmine perfume.
Real.
Elena knew because Dana appeared behind her one second later with a gun.
“Victoria Ashcroft.”
Victoria smiled.
“Detective.”
“Hands where I can see them.”
Victoria raised both hands.
Marcus stared.
“You drugged Elena.”
Victoria looked almost bored.
“Elena has always been fragile.”
“We have the recordings.”
“You have recordings of me talking.”
“You poisoned her.”
“Can you prove which person placed which substance into which cup?”
Dana stepped closer.
“We can prove enough.”
Victoria’s smile remained.
“Can you?”
Elena watched her.
Victoria was too calm.
Then Elena saw the white gloves.
One thumb pressed against something.
A button.
“Elena!”
Marcus shouted.
Victoria clicked.
The cellar lights exploded.
Darkness.
A violent metallic slam echoed behind Dana.
Emergency shutters fell.
Elena heard movement.
A struggle.
Then a needle pierced her shoulder.
She screamed.
Someone caught her.
May you like
Victoria whispered into her ear.
“This time, when you wake up, the baby will be gone.”
