Chapter 2 - The Midnight Threat
The pounding on the heavy oak door shook the framed pictures hanging on the hallway wall.
Rachel woke up with a sharp gasp, grabbing her little sister’s hand in sheer panic.
“Stay in the living room and do not make a sound,” I whispered to the girls.
I walked toward the front door, my fists clenched so tightly that my fingernails dug into my palms.
I did not open the door.
Instead, I looked through the peephole and saw Arthur standing on my porch in the pouring rain.
His designer suit was soaked, and his face was twisted in a manic, desperate rage.
His fiancée, Evelyn, was standing behind him with her arms crossed, glaring at my house.
“You gave up your rights to these girls at the cemetery, Arthur!” I shouted through the thick wood.
“You have five seconds to get off my property before I call the sheriff.”
Arthur laughed, a sick and hollow sound that cut through the noise of the storm.
“You think I care about the kids?” he yelled back.
“I want what my dead wife stole from my home office.”
He slammed his fist against the door again, making the hinges rattle.
“If you call the cops, I’ll tell them you kidnapped my daughters in a grief-stricken frenzy.”
My heart hammered against my ribs as I realized how easily a smooth talker like Arthur could twist the story.
I stepped back, pulling out my phone to dial 911 anyway.
Before I could press the call button, my phone buzzed with an incoming text message.
It was from an unknown number.
The message contained a single audio file and a line of text that made my blood run cold.
“Your daughter sent this to me for safekeeping, Charles.”
I pressed play on the audio file, keeping the volume low.
It was a recording of Arthur and Evelyn talking in what sounded like a hospital room.
“The doctors say her heart is failing,” Evelyn’s voice whispered on the tape.
“Did you get the signature for the life insurance policy?” Arthur asked coldly.
“Yes, right before she lost consciousness,” Evelyn replied.
The recording clicked off, leaving me standing in stunned silence.
Arthur had murdered my daughter for a three-million-dollar payout.
The banging on the front door suddenly stopped.
I looked through the peephole again, but the porch was completely empty.
Arthur and Evelyn were gone.
May you like
Then, the lights in my house flickered and went completely dark.
I heard the distinct sound of my back patio glass door shattering into a thousand pieces.
