Chapter 7 - The Woman in Gray
By midnight, Blackwood House was full of police.
Serena's closet was half empty. Grant's security locker had been cleared. Someone had disabled the rear gate alarm from inside.
Victor stood in the nursery doorway watching Ethan sleep.
Lily sat beside the crib.
"You should rest," he said.
"So should you."
Neither moved.
Victor looked at his son and whispered, "I almost married her."
Lily didn't soften the truth. "Yes."
"I brought her into his life."
"Yes."
He nodded, accepting each word.
Then Lily added, "What matters now is what you do after finding out."
At 2:17 a.m., motion sensors triggered near the greenhouse.
Victor and two officers rushed outside.
They found no Serena.
Only a gray wool coat hanging from a garden hook.
Inside the pocket was a burner phone.
One unsent message filled the screen:
WE MOVE THE CHILD BEFORE DAWN.
Victor's blood turned cold.
"Lock every entrance."
An officer nodded. "We already have units at the gate."
Rosa came running from the kitchen.
"Sir!"
"What?"
"Lily says Ethan's monitor went black."
Victor ran.
The nursery was empty.
The crib sheet was warm.
Lily stood beside it, white-faced.
"I was in the bathroom for less than a minute."
Victor looked toward the balcony doors.
Open.
A breeze moved the curtains.
Then they heard a baby crying.
Not outside.
Below them.
Victor followed the sound to the old nursery.
Inside, Ethan sat on the carpet, confused but unharmed.
Beside him stood a woman in a gray housekeeping uniform Victor had never seen before.
She raised both hands.
"Please don't shoot."
The officer behind Victor lowered his weapon slightly.
"Who are you?"
The woman was crying.
"My name is Mara Ellis. Serena paid me to work here under a fake name three months ago."
Lily rushed to Ethan.
Victor stared at Mara.
"You took my son?"
"No. I stopped the man who did."
"What man?"
Mara pointed to the service door.
"Grant."
Victor looked toward the dark stairwell.
"Where is he?"
"He ran when he saw me."
"Why did you help us?"
Mara's face crumpled.
"Because Serena promised me money to watch the nanny and your son. Then I found out what she really wanted."
Victor stepped closer.
"Which was?"
Mara looked at Ethan.
"She wasn't planning to wait for the wedding."
Victor's skin went cold.
"What was she planning?"
May you like
Mara whispered,
"Your accident."
