Chapter 16 - The Gate
The blast was not large enough to destroy the gate.
It was large enough to create chaos.
The guarding officers ran toward the smoke.
Claire knew instantly it was a distraction.
She grabbed Lily’s hand. “Basement. Now.”
They ran through the kitchen.
A glass door shattered behind them.
Mason Reed stepped inside holding a gun.
“Claire.”
Lily screamed.
Claire pushed her behind the pantry island.
Mason raised the weapon. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Then leave.”
“I need the girl.”
“You’re not touching her.”
Mason smiled. “Victoria said you’d say that.”
Claire grabbed a heavy cast-iron skillet and hurled it.
It hit Mason’s wrist.
The gun fired into the ceiling.
Claire ran.
She and Lily reached the basement stairs as Mason recovered.
Halfway down, Claire felt a sharp contraction.
She stopped.
Not now.
Another contraction hit.
Lily looked up. “Is the baby coming?”
“No. We’re okay.”
Claire hated the lie, but they had no time.
The basement contained an old wine cellar with a steel storm door. Claire shoved Lily inside and turned the lock.
“Stay quiet. No matter what you hear.”
“What about you?”
“I’m right here.”
Mason entered the basement.
“Claire, don’t make this harder.”
She backed behind a stone column.
Her phone showed one bar of signal.
She typed Ethan one message: BASEMENT. MASON. LILY SAFE.
Mason rounded the corner.
Claire swung a wine bottle.
It shattered against his shoulder.
He cursed and grabbed her arm.
She drove her knee upward and tore free.
Another contraction hit harder.
She nearly fell.
Mason seized her again.
Then Lily’s voice came from the wine cellar.
“Hey!”
Mason turned.
Claire screamed, “Lily, no!”
The steel door cracked open.
Lily threw something across the basement.
The red glow caught Mason’s eyes.
A flare.
It landed beside an old alarm sensor, triggering the estate fire system.
Sirens exploded through the house.
Mason flinched.
Claire used the second to slam the cellar door into him.
He stumbled backward.
A shot rang out from the stairs.
Mason dropped.
Ethan stood above them with Detective Ortiz.
Claire sagged against the wall.
Ethan ran to her.
Then Claire looked down.
May you like
Water spread across the floor beneath her gown.
“My water broke.”
