Chapter 6 - Smoke in the West Wing.
The first breath of smoke tasted like plastic and gasoline.
Detective Mercer pushed Lily toward Ethan.
“Take her to the east stairs.”
Claire backed away from the doorway.
“Where is Mason?”
Nobody answered.
The hall beyond the nursery had become a tunnel of grey smoke.
Flames crawled along the carpet runner toward the wall where Ethan kept framed family portraits.
The fire was moving too fast to be accidental.
Victor covered his mouth with his sleeve.
“We need to leave now.”
Ethan looked at the gap in the floor where the memory card had fallen.
Then he looked at Lily.
He chose his daughter.
They moved low beneath the smoke while Mercer led the way.
Claire stayed close behind Ethan.
Victor disappeared for several seconds near the west study.
Ethan turned back.
“Victor!”
“I am here.”
He emerged holding his leather document case.
Even in a fire, Victor had gone back for paperwork.
The detail lodged inside Ethan's mind.
Victor had protected that case before protecting any person in the room.
Whatever it contained mattered enough to risk smoke, fire, and a collapsing hallway.
Ethan stored the observation beside every other impossible detail of the night.
They reached the east staircase as sprinklers finally activated.
Cold water hammered the marble below.
Firefighters entered through the front doors.
Mason was nowhere in sight.
Outside, Lily sat wrapped in a blanket on the back of an ambulance.
A paramedic examined her pupils and confirmed she had likely been given a sedating antihistamine.
Claire stood twenty feet away speaking quietly to another officer.
Ethan watched her point toward him twice.
Detective Mercer returned.
“The fire started in a wastebasket with an accelerant.”
“Someone wanted that room destroyed.”
Mercer looked toward Victor.
“Maybe.”
Ethan lowered his voice.
“Can I trust you?”
The detective's answer was immediate.
“No.”
Ethan stared at him.
“You should not trust anyone connected to this house until we know more.”
Mercer glanced toward Lily.
“But I believe your daughter was in danger.”
That was enough for the moment.
A firefighter carried the hidden metal lockbox outside.
Its sides were scorched, but the lock remained intact.
Victor stepped forward.
“That box may contain privileged legal documents.”
Mercer blocked him.
“Then a judge can decide what I am allowed to see.”
Victor's jaw tightened.
Ethan noticed Claire watching from behind the ambulance.
She was not looking at the lockbox.
She was looking toward the line of trees behind the guesthouse.
A figure moved there.
Shirtless.
Mason.
Claire gave the smallest possible shake of her head.
Mason turned and disappeared into the darkness.
Ethan handed Lily to the paramedic and ran.
He heard Mercer shout behind him, but he kept going.
He crossed the wet lawn, vaulted the low garden wall, and entered the trees.
Branches slapped his face.
Ahead, Mason crashed through the brush toward the old carriage road.
Ethan caught him beside an abandoned greenhouse.
He slammed Mason against the glass door.
“Why did you put my daughter in that suitcase?”
Mason's face was wet with rain and sweat.
“I didn't.”
“Claire did?”
Mason looked toward the mansion.
“Claire was supposed to scare her, not drug her.”
Ethan tightened his grip.
“Scare her into what?”
“Leaving with us.”
“Why?”
May you like
Mason swallowed.
“Because Victor said if Lily was still in the country on her eighth birthday, everything changed.”
