Chapter 6 - THE SAFE HOUSE
The darkness was absolute, heavy, and terrifying.
For two agonizing seconds, the only sound was the soft, rhythmic breathing of the five children sleeping on the floor. Then, a sharp, metallic clank echoed from outside—the sound of a heavy bolt cutters snapping the chain on the cabin’s driveway gate.
“Victor,” Serena whispered, terror spiking her heart rate. She held up the burned train ticket, though he couldn't see it. “Mrs. Chen. She followed us. She must have left this in the fireplace to burn, but it didn't catch.”
Victor was a ghost in the dark. He didn't speak. She felt the rush of air as he moved swiftly past her, his boots silent on the wooden floorboards.
“Wake them up,” Victor’s voice came from the shadows near the kitchen, a low, urgent command. “Quietly. Not a sound.”
Serena dropped to her knees on the pallet. She shook Lucia first, pressing her hand gently over her daughter’s mouth. Lucia’s eyes flew open, wide with panic in the dark, but she remembered her mother’s lessons. She stayed silent.
Next were the quadruplets. Marco woke instantly, his fists clenching. Nico nearly kicked out, but Serena caught his ankle. Alessandro blinked groggily, and Tommy…
Serena’s hand swept across the blankets.
Tommy wasn't there.
Panic seized her throat. “Tommy,” she mouthed into the dark, her hands frantically patting the floor. “Tommy’s gone.”
“He went to pee,” Marco whispered back, his voice barely a breath. “Upstairs.”
Victor materialized beside them. He had strapped a tactical vest over his dress shirt and held his rifle low. “They cut the power line. We have ninety seconds before they breach the doors. Dom’s loyalists.”
“Mrs. Chen sold us out,” Serena hissed.
“She was Dominic’s aunt,” Victor said grimly. “I should have seen it. Take the four of them into the pantry. There’s a false wall behind the shelving unit. Push the third shelf down. Get inside and lock it.”
“I’m not leaving without Tommy!” Serena whispered fiercely.
“I will get him,” Victor ordered. “Go. Now.”
He shoved her lightly toward the kitchen and vanished toward the staircase.
Serena herded Lucia, Marco, Nico, and Alessandro into the cramped pantry. It smelled of dried pasta and old dust. She felt along the back wall, her fingers frantic, until she found the wooden shelf Victor had described. She pushed down with all her weight.
With a soft click, the shelving unit swung inward, revealing a pitch-black panic room no larger than a walk-in closet.
She pushed the children inside.
Before she could step in herself, the heavy oak front door of the cabin shattered inward with an earsplitting crash.
Heavy boots pounded against the wooden floor. Flashlight beams sliced through the darkness, sweeping across the living room where the children had just been sleeping.
“Clear the ground floor!” a rough voice barked. “Find the boss and the nanny.”
Serena froze in the pantry doorway. If she pulled the false wall shut, she would be safe. But Victor was upstairs, and they were looking for Tommy.
She looked back into the panic room. Marco was holding Lucia’s hand, his small face set in terrified determination.
“Lock it from the inside,” Serena whispered to Marco. “Do not open it unless you hear your father’s voice. Understand?”
Marco nodded.
Serena pulled the false wall shut, hearing the heavy deadbolt slide into place from the inside.
She was alone in the dark kitchen. She could hear three men moving through the living room, kicking over chairs. She needed a distraction. She needed to buy Victor time to find Tommy upstairs.
Her eyes adjusted to the moonlight spilling through the window. She was in a kitchen. Her territory.
She moved silently to the cleaning supply closet. She grabbed a jug of bleach and a bottle of ammonia-based floor cleaner. She knew from her grueling shifts cleaning cheap apartments what happened when the two mixed. It was a dangerous, toxic reaction, but she didn't need to breathe it; she just needed it to smoke.
She unscrewed the caps, dumped both chemicals into a metal stockpot on the stove, and threw a handful of dry paper towels into the mix. Instantly, a thick, noxious white cloud began to billow upward, filling the kitchen with an acrid, blinding smoke.
“Hey! Smoke!” one of the men yelled from the living room. “Fire in the kitchen!”
Two men rushed toward the pantry area, coughing violently as the toxic cloud hit their lungs.
Serena didn't wait. She slipped out the secondary kitchen door, crawling low to the ground to avoid the smoke, and made for the back staircase.
She crept up the wooden stairs, her heart pounding so hard it hurt her ribs. The upstairs hallway was narrow. A man with a flashlight was kicking open the bedroom doors.
“Come out, little Rinaldi,” the man taunted. “Uncle Dominic wants to say hi.”
Serena saw the man step into the bathroom.
She moved fast, grabbing a heavy brass lamp from a hallway console table. As the man backed out of the bathroom, frustrated, Serena swung the lamp with every ounce of strength she had.
The heavy brass connected with the back of the man’s skull with a sickening crack. He crumpled to the floor without a sound, his flashlight rolling away.
Serena dropped the lamp, gasping for air.
A small hand reached out from under the hallway linen closet and grabbed her ankle.
Serena bit back a scream, looking down.
It was Tommy. His dark curls were messy, his eyes wide with silent terror. He had hidden perfectly.
“I got you, baby,” Serena whispered, pulling the six-year-old out and hoisting him into her arms. He clung to her neck like a monkey, burying his face in her shoulder.
She turned to head back down the stairs.
But a flashlight beam suddenly hit her squarely in the face, blinding her.
A tall figure stepped out of the master bedroom at the end of the hall. He was holding a silver lighter, flicking it open and shut with a rhythmic, terrifying click-clack.
It was Dominic.
He hadn't been arrested by Victor's men. He had escaped.
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“Resourceful as ever, Ms. Valente,” Dominic smiled, his pale eyes glowing in the lighter’s flame. “But the kitchen tricks only work on the hired help. Now, put the boy down, and we can all walk out of here alive.”
He raised a handgun, pointing it directly at Serena’s chest.
