Chapter 23 - THE SIEGE OF THE NURSERY
When Evan reached the third-floor landing, the smell of cordite filled the corridor.
The heavy mahogany door to Sophie’s room was hanging open. On the carpet outside lay Alexandra, bleeding from a graze on her temple, groaning as she struggled to sit up.
"Evan..." Alexandra gasped, pointing into the room. "She came out of the wardrobe... she grabbed Sophie..."
Evan burst into the bedroom.
The large walnut wardrobe in the corner had been swung open on hidden steel pivots, revealing a dark, jagged opening cut through the plaster and lath behind it.
Standing in the center of the nursery was Charles Whitaker.
In his hand was a snub-nosed revolver, smoke still curling from the barrel. On the floor near his feet lay a shattered brass lamp—the bullet had struck the wall three inches above the baseboard.
And standing before the open cavity in the wall stood Vanessa, her face contorted with desperation, her left arm clamped tightly around seven-year-old Sophie. In her right hand, Vanessa held an open straight razor, its edge gleaning under the nursery chandelier.
"Back up, Charles!" Vanessa screamed, her voice shrill with panic. "Back up or I swear to God I’ll cut her! Give me the safe combination! Give me the bearer bonds or none of us walk out of this house alive!"
"Let the child go, Vanessa," Charles said, his voice terrifyingly calm, his revolver leveled at her chest. "You are just like your father. Greedy. Sloppy. You thought you could come into my house and take what took me fifty years to build?"
"Sophie!" Evan shouted, stepping between his father and Vanessa. "Vanessa, look at me! Look at me, damn you! Put the blade down!"
Sophie was weeping hysterically, her small body shaking against Vanessa’s grip. "Daddy! Daddy, please!"
"Don't take another step, Evan!" Vanessa yelled, backing toward the dark rectangular void behind the wardrobe. "Your father is a monster! He killed Caroline! He tried to kill me ten minutes ago in the hallway! He doesn't care about Sophie—he only cares that the secret stays inside these walls!"
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"I know what he did," Evan said, holding his hands up, trying to keep his voice steady while every nerve in his body screamed to tear Vanessa apart with his bare hands. "I have the bonds, Vanessa. They're downstairs on the desk. You can have them. Take the car. Take the papers. Just let my daughter go."
"She can't leave, Evan," Charles said coldly, not lowering the gun. "Neither of them can leave."
