Chapter 2 - The Lock on the Attic Door
I took the glass from Marcus’s hand.
I smiled through my terror.
“Thank you, honey.”
I lifted the glass to my lips.
I tipped my head back.
I slid the blue pill under my tongue.
I swallowed the water in one big gulp.
Marcus watched my throat move.
He smiled, satisfied.
“Good girl.”
He kissed my forehead.
His lips felt like ice against my skin.
“I’m going to check the back yard,” he said quietly.
“The wind is picking up.”
He turned and walked toward the patio doors.
The moment his back was turned, I rushed to the bathroom.
I spat the dry pill into the sink.
I washed it down the drain with cold water.
My heart pounded like a trapped bird inside my chest.
I hurried back to Leo’s door.
“Leo, open the door.”
The lock turned instantly.
Leo stepped out into the dark hallway.
He was not wearing his shoes.
He held up his left sneaker.
I took the shoe and turned it over.
The thick rubber inner sole had been cut open.
Inside the hidden lining sat a brass key.
Attached to the key was a tiny plastic tag.
written on the tag was an address in green marker.
It was the old cabin Julian owned by the lake.
“Where did you get this, Leo?”
Leo looked toward the backyard windows.
“Dad came to my bedroom window three nights ago.”
I gasped.
I grabbed Leo’s shoulders.
“Julian was here?”
Leo nodded slowly.
“He was crying.”
“He said Marcus stole his life.”
“He said Marcus put things in his house to make the judge mad.”
My head spun wildly.
The empty liquor bottles in Julian’s car.
The forged signatures on the school papers.
It wasn't Julian’s downfall.
It was a setup.
“Why didn’t you tell me, Leo?”
Leo pushed his hair out of his eyes.
“Marcus saw him through the window.”
Leo’s lower lip trembled.
“Marcus told me if I said a word, he would send you away too.”
“He said mothers who take blue pills don’t get to keep their kids.”
A horrifying wave of rage washed over me.
Marcus had been drugging me for months.
He was building a paper trail of my instability.
Just like he did with Julian.
He wanted full custody of Leo.
He wanted the trust fund my father left for my son.
A floorboard creaked in the kitchen.
Marcus’s heavy boots were coming back inside.
“Hide the key,” I whispered into Leo’s ear.
Leo shoved the brass key back into his shoe.
I stood up and pulled Leo behind me.
Marcus stepped into the hallway corridor.
He stopped in his tracks.
His gentle, patient eyes were completely gone.
His face was flat and expressionless.
“You didn’t swallow the pill, Clara.”
It was not a question.
I stepped backward, shielding Leo.
“What did you do to Julian, Marcus?”
Marcus did not answer immediately.
He slowly pulled a pair of heavy leather gloves from his coat pocket.
“Julian was careless,” Marcus said softly.
“He made it far too easy.”
“A desperate father leaves tracks everywhere.”
Marcus pulled the gloves onto his hands, snapping the leather tight.
“Including lakeside cabins.”
My breath caught in my throat.
“What did you do?”
Marcus took a slow step toward us.
“Julian is waiting for you at the lake, Clara.”
“He thinks you’re meeting him to run away together.”
Marcus smiled a terrifying, calm smile.
“The police are already on their way there right now.”
“They received an anonymous tip that Julian abducted Leo.”
“Imagine their surprise when they find Julian’s car in the water.”
I gasped.
“You didn’t…”
“I haven’t yet,” Marcus said quietly.
“He’s bound in the back of his own truck down by the pier.”
“And you are going to stay right here while I finish it.”
Marcus reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black syringe.
“This will help you sleep through the news tomorrow morning.”
Leo screamed.
Marcus lunged forward.
I grabbed the heavy bronze lamp off the hallway table.
I swung it with all my strength.
The lamp struck Marcus directly across the jaw.
Metal hit bone with a sharp crack.
Marcus stumbled back against the wall, dropping the syringe.
“Run, Leo!” I screamed.
Leo bolted down the front stairs toward the heavy oak door.
Marcus shook his head, wiping blood from his lip.
His eyes flared with murderous rage.
He didn’t chase Leo.
He chased me.
He grabbed my hair from behind and yanked me backwards onto the floor.
My chin hit the hard floorboards.
Pain exploded behind my eyes.
Marcus leaned down, his knees pinning my shoulder blades.
“You ruined a perfectly good plan, Clara.”
He picked up the black syringe from the rug.
I thrashed wildly, but his weight was too much.
The needle glinted under the hallway light, inches from my neck.
Suddenly, a loud, metallic bell shattered the silence.
May you like
The house fire alarm began to screech wildly.
Smoke began pouring out from under the basement door.
