Chapter 4 - THE GIRL IN THE DARK
Grace screamed Lily’s name.
Guests crashed into chairs as they searched for the exits.
The emergency lights failed to activate.
Someone had disabled the entire electrical system.
Grace reached blindly through the darkness.
Her fingers found an empty section of Lily’s dress.
Then the fabric slipped away.
“Lily.”
A child cried near the eastern hallway.
Grace ran toward the sound.
Nathan followed.
Jonah shouted for everyone to remain still.
A gunshot exploded somewhere near the ballroom doors.
People dropped to the floor.
Grace kept running.
She entered the hallway just as the emergency lights flickered to life.
A man in a catering uniform was carrying Lily toward the service stairs.
Lily kicked and screamed.
Grace recognized the man.
His name was Aaron Pike.
He had worked as a guard at St. Augustine.
“Aaron.”
He looked over his shoulder.
For one second, his face revealed surprise.
Then he pushed open the stairway door.
Grace grabbed a champagne bottle from a passing cart and threw it.
The bottle struck Aaron between the shoulders.
He stumbled.
Lily fell from his arms.
Nathan reached the child first.
He pulled her against his chest.
Aaron drew a handgun.
Grace froze.
He aimed at Nathan.
Before he could fire, Jonah crashed into him from the side.
The gun slid across the marble floor.
Nathan carried Lily back into the hallway.
The child buried her face against his shoulder.
Grace expected Lily to resist him.
Instead, she whispered something into his ear.
Nathan’s eyes widened.
“What did you say?”
Lily looked toward Olivia.
“She told him to take me.”
Every face turned toward the bride.
Olivia stood at the end of the hallway.
Her white gown glowed beneath the emergency lights.
She looked more angry than frightened.
“That child is confused.”
Grace walked toward her.
“Children remember more than adults think.”
Olivia lifted her chin.
“You disappeared.”
“I was imprisoned.”
“You were unstable.”
“You arranged it.”
“I saved everyone from you.”
Grace stopped inches away.
“Then why did you drug Lily?”
Olivia’s expression tightened.
“I never drugged her.”
Jonah dragged Aaron to his feet.
“We can ask your friend.”
Aaron laughed.
“She isn’t the one who hired me.”
Olivia turned toward him.
“Shut your mouth.”
Aaron smiled through a bleeding lip.
“You were always terrible at staying calm.”
Jonah tightened the handcuffs.
“Who hired you?”
Aaron looked past Olivia.
His gaze stopped on Charles Bennett.
Grace’s father stood completely still.
Aaron’s smile widened.
“Ask Grandpa.”
Charles immediately denied everything.
Nathan stepped between him and Lily.
“You stay away from my daughter.”
Charles raised both hands.
“I was trying to protect her.”
“By having a man abduct her?”
“I did not order this.”
Aaron began laughing again.
“No one ordered me to take the girl.”
Jonah looked at him.
“Then why did you do it?”
Aaron’s eyes settled on Grace.
“Because she was never supposed to leave the clinic alive.”
Grace felt the hallway tilt beneath her.
Aaron continued speaking.
“The fire was not an accident.”
Jonah pulled him toward the ballroom.
Charles moved as though he planned to follow.
Grace blocked his path.
“Did you know?”
Her father’s eyes filled with something she could not identify.
“Grace, there are truths you are not ready to hear.”
“You buried an empty coffin.”
“I did what was necessary.”
“For Olivia?”
Charles shook his head.
“For Lily.”
Grace looked at her daughter.
Lily was still holding Nathan.
Her small body trembled.
Charles lowered his voice.
“You think your sister is the monster.”
May you like
He glanced toward Nathan.
“But you came back to the house of the man who signed your life away.”
