Chapter 3 - The Laundry Chute
Richard stepped out of the service elevator, his perfectly tailored suit practically reeking of arrogant entitlement.
He looked at me with eyes that were entirely devoid of any human empathy.
"Did you really think you could outsmart us, you pathetic old gold-digger?" Richard sneered.
The two massive security guards stepped out of the elevator, blocking my only path of escape.
I backed away slowly, clutching Harrison's precious envelope tightly against my chest.
Sterling was limping toward me from the other end of the hallway, wiping a trickle of blood from his jaw.
I was completely trapped between the ruthless lawyer and the murderous son.
Suddenly, a heavy wooden door to my left swung open with a loud creak.
It was the maintenance and laundry closet used by the housekeeping staff.
A young pair of hands reached out from the darkness, grabbed the fabric of my sweater, and yanked me violently inside.
The door slammed shut and locked just as Richard shouted in anger.
I gasped for air in the pitch-black closet, my heart hammering wildly against my ribs.
A small flashlight clicked on, illuminating the terrified but determined face of Sarah.
She was a young, underpaid nurse who used to sneak me extra pudding when I lived in the state-funded wing.
"Keep quiet, Evelyn," Sarah whispered urgently, pressing her finger to her lips.
"They have locked down the entire building, and they are threatening to hurt anyone who helps you," she warned.
I looked at her in complete astonishment, wondering why she would risk her life for an old woman.
"Harrison secretly paid for my entire nursing school tuition when I was about to drop out," Sarah explained softly.
"I promised him I would always watch over you if anything ever happened to him."
The sound of heavy fists pounding against the closet door made us both jump.
"Break it down!" Richard's muffled voice ordered from the hallway.
Sarah turned quickly and pointed her flashlight toward a massive aluminum door set into the wall.
It was the industrial laundry chute that dropped directly down to the basement level.
"We have to jump, it is the only way out of this hallway," Sarah urged, throwing the heavy metal door open.
I looked down into the dark, terrifying abyss of the metal tube.
The wooden door of the closet began to splinter under the sheer force of the guards' heavy boots.
I closed my eyes, held my breath, and threw myself into the dark chute just as the closet door completely gave way.
I slid downward at a terrifying speed, tumbling wildly through the smooth metal darkness.
I landed with a heavy thud in a massive, soft cart full of dirty linens in the basement.
Sarah landed right beside me a second later, gasping for air.
We scrambled out of the laundry cart and into the dim, damp basement of the nursing home.
Sarah grabbed my hand and led me toward the old boiler room where the security cameras were broken.
"Harrison told me to bring you here if things went bad," Sarah whispered, pulling a small key from her pocket.
She unlocked a rusty electrical panel on the wall, revealing a hidden wall safe behind the wires.
She opened the safe and pulled out a small, metallic briefcase and a set of car keys.
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Suddenly, the dim basement lights completely flickered and died, plunging us into total darkness.
"You really thought a rusty lock would stop me, stepmother?" Victoria's cold voice echoed from the shadows.
