CHAPTER 77: A RACE AGAINST TIME
My heart hammered so loud I thought Carlos could hear it in the dark.
William's hand found mine and squeezed hard. Stay calm, it said without words. I squeezed back because calm was the last thing I felt.
"The breaker box is in the basement." Liam's whisper barely reached my ears. "If I can get there—"
"No." William cut him off. "He'll expect that. He wants us separated."
Carlos's footsteps stopped. The silence was worse than the sound.
"I know you're down there Katie." His voice drifted from somewhere above us. "Hiding like you did when you were little. Remember that game? I'd count to ten and you'd squeeze into the hall closet, thinking I couldn't find you."
My stomach turned. He was right. I'd forgotten about those visits when I was six or seven, before I understood what kind of man he really was.
"But I always found you didn't I?" A floorboard creaked. "Always."
Tina's breathing came too fast beside me. I reached for her hand and found it ice cold.
"The study." William's mouth was right against my ear. "There's a safe room behind the bookshelf. Get there and lock yourselves in."
"What about you?"
"I'm ending this tonight."
"William no—"
He was already moving, his shape disappearing into the darkness. I wanted to scream at him to come back but Carlos would hear.
"This way." Liam grabbed both me and Tina, pulling us toward where I thought the study was. Everything looked different in the dark, familiar furniture turned into obstacles.
Something crashed in the living room. Glass exploded.
"Found you." Carlos's laugh echoed through the house.
But he hadn't. That was William making noise, drawing Carlos away from us.
We reached the study and Liam shut the door as quietly as possible. His phone screen cast a blue glow across his face as he pulled up the security app.
"Cameras are down but motion sensors are still active." He scrolled through alerts. "Two signals on the first floor, one in the living room, one moving toward the kitchen."
"Which one is William?" My voice shook.
"Can't tell." He moved to the bookshelf and started pulling volumes in a specific sequence. "But whoever's in the kitchen is heading for the basement stairs."
The bookshelf swung open revealing a small room lined with monitors. Most showed static but a few still worked, showing grainy night vision footage.
"Get inside." Liam practically shoved us through. "Lock it from the inside, don't open it for anyone except me or William."
"What are you doing?" Tina grabbed his arm.
"Making sure your best friend stays alive." He pulled free. "Now go."
The door started closing and I jammed my foot in the gap. "Liam wait. The evidence, the files we collected on Carlos, where are they?"
"Uploaded to the cloud, copies with three different lawyers, and originals in a safe deposit box." He pushed my foot back gently. "Even if something happens tonight, he can't erase what we have on him."
"That's not what I meant." I gripped the edge of the door. "I need those files now. If Carlos gets caught tonight I want every piece of evidence ready to bury him."
"Kate, priorities." Tina tried pulling me back.
"This is my priority." I looked at Liam. "Where's the hard drive with the recordings?"
He hesitated. "William's office. Bottom drawer, false bottom."
"Then that's where I'm going."
"Are you insane?" Tina's voice pitched up. "There's a murderer in this house."
"Exactly why I need to get those files before he destroys them." I squeezed through the door before Liam could stop me. "You two stay here."
"Not happening." Tina followed me out. "Someone needs to keep you from getting killed."
"Both of you are idiots." Liam closed the door behind us. "But if we're doing this, we do it smart. Stay low, stay quiet, and if you see Carlos you run."
William's office was on the second floor. We'd have to pass the main staircase where I'd last heard Carlos's voice.
My phone buzzed. A text from William: "Where are you?"
I typed back: "Getting the evidence. Don't worry."
Three dots appeared. Disappeared. Appeared again. "Kate I swear to God—"
Another crash interrupted, this time from upstairs. Right above us.
We all froze.
"He's on the second floor." Liam checked his phone. "Motion sensor just triggered in the east wing."
"That's the opposite side from William's office." I was already moving. "We have maybe two minutes."
We took the stairs fast, my hand on the railing to guide me in the dark. Every shadow looked like Carlos, every sound like footsteps coming for us.
The office door was locked. Of course it was.
"Liam." I turned to him.
He already had a key out. "William gave me a copy for emergencies. Pretty sure this counts."
The lock clicked and we slipped inside. Liam closed the door and wedged a chair under the handle.
"Bottom drawer." I dropped to my knees in front of William's desk. "False bottom, he said false bottom."
My hands shook so bad I could barely grip the drawer handle. It slid open revealing files and folders, nothing unusual.
"There has to be a release somewhere." Tina crouched beside me, her phone light illuminating the drawer. "A button or a switch or—"
"Got it." My fingers found a small indentation. I pressed and the bottom panel popped up.
Inside was a hard drive, three USB sticks, and a envelope marked with my father's handwriting: "For Kate. In case something happens."
My throat closed up. This was it. Everything we needed to destroy Carlos, written in my father's own hand.
"Kate we need to move." Liam was at the window. "I can see someone in the garden. They're circling back toward the house."
I grabbed everything and shoved it in my jacket. "Let's go."
The door exploded inward.
Not from being opened. From being kicked hard enough to snap the chair and send splinters flying.
Carlos stood in the doorway, blood on his shirt and something dark in his hand. A gun.
"I knew you'd come here." He raised the weapon. "You're predictable Katie, just like your father."
"Don't." Liam stepped in front of me.
"Move boy. This doesn't concern you."
"Everything about Kate concerns me."
Carlos smiled and it was the worst thing I'd ever seen. "How noble. I'm sure William will appreciate your sacrifice."
His finger tightened on the trigger.
A shot rang out.
But Carlos didn't fire.
He stumbled forward, confusion crossing his face. He looked down at his chest where blood bloomed across his shirt. Then he turned.
William stood behind him, his own gun still raised.
"You forget." William's voice was ice. "This is my house."
Carlos collapsed. The gun clattered from his hand and skittered across the floor.
I couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. Just stared at the spreading pool of red.
"Kate." William was suddenly in front of me, his hands on my face. "Look at me. Look at me, not him."
I blinked and focused on his eyes. "Did you—is he—"
"Shoulder wound. He'll live." William pulled out his phone. "Liam, call the police. Tell them we have an intruder down and we need an ambulance."
Tina made a choked sound. I turned to see her backing away from Carlos, her hand over her mouth.
"It's okay." I reached for her. "It's over."
"Not quite."
We all spun toward the door.
Donovan stood there, flanked by two men I didn't recognize. And he was holding a gun too.
"I'm afraid it's just getting started."