Chapter 7 - The Empty Cage
The heavy gun in my hands felt like lead as Marcus's horrifying words echoed through the room.
My beautiful daughter and the poisoned boy were missing somewhere inside the walls of the mansion.
Dominic delivered one final, brutal punch to Vincent's jaw, knocking him completely unconscious.
He stood up, wiping a trail of dark blood from his split lip, and took the gun gently from my shaking hands.
"We will find them, Nora," he promised, his deep voice wrapping around me like a warm blanket.
"There are exactly three hidden stops on that elevator shaft."
We tied Vincent securely to the heavy radiator with a thick leather belt from the closet.
Dominic grabbed a tactical flashlight and led me back to the open panel in the bookshelf.
We stepped into the dark elevator shaft, staring down into the deep, empty abyss.
"There is a maintenance ladder that runs parallel to the tracks," Dominic explained, pointing his light downward.
I didn't hesitate to climb onto the cold metal rungs, fueled purely by a mother's desperate adrenaline.
We descended in tense silence, the smell of dust and old grease filling my lungs.
At the first hidden level, Dominic forced the outer doors open, but the small armory was entirely empty.
We continued climbing down, my hands blistering from the unforgiving friction of the rusty metal.
When we reached the second level, which connected to the old Prohibition-era wine cellar, I heard a faint sound.
It was the distinct sound of a child softly crying.
"Lily," I breathed, scrambling through the pried-open doors and dropping onto the cold stone floor.
I ran through the dusty aisles of vintage wine, using the light from Dominic's phone to navigate.
In the far corner of the cellar, I found Lily huddled behind a massive wooden barrel, clutching Ethan's hand.
I fell to my knees and pulled them both into a desperate, crushing hug, sobbing in pure relief.
"Mommy," Lily cried, burying her face into my neck.
Dominic crouched beside us, checking Ethan's pulse with a gentle touch.
"Where is the doctor?" Dominic asked the children softly.
Ethan looked up, his pale face stained with fresh tears.
"He stopped the elevator and told us to hide down here," Ethan whispered weakly.
Before Dominic could ask another question, the heavy iron door of the wine cellar slammed shut with a terrifying boom.
The loud click of a deadbolt sliding into place trapped us completely in the underground room.
A voice echoed from the small ventilation grate near the ceiling.
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"I really am sorry, Mr. Moretti," Dr. Harris said softly through the vent.
"But Vincent promised to pay off my gambling debts if I simply locked you all in the cellar and turned on the gas."
