Chapter 2 - The Blind Spot
I backed away from the door, my heart hammering violently against my fragile ribs.
We were completely trapped inside my apartment, with a predator watching our only exit.
I hurried into the guest bathroom and opened the door to find Lucy curled into a tight ball on the tile floor.
Emiliano was sleeping soundly against her chest, completely unaware of the terrifying danger surrounding them.
"We cannot use the front door, Lucy," I whispered, pulling her gently to her feet.
"Adrian just installed a hidden surveillance camera in the hallway, and he is watching the feed."
Lucy let out a choked sob, her entire body shaking like a leaf in a winter storm.
"He is going to kill me, Mrs. Carmen," she cried, burying her face into my shoulder.
"Nobody is going to die today," I promised her, my protective instincts completely overriding my fear.
I grabbed my cane and led her quickly toward the small pantry attached to my kitchen.
My apartment building was constructed in the early 1920s, back when wealthy residents had servants.
Hidden behind a stack of canned soup and old cereal boxes was a heavy wooden door that had not been opened in thirty years.
I pushed the groceries aside and yanked the handle, revealing a dark, dusty dumbwaiter shaft.
"This is an old service elevator used for sending laundry down to the boiler room," I explained, brushing away thick cobwebs.
"It is a blind spot, completely completely off the grid and away from Adrian's cameras."
I grabbed the thick, braided rope and pulled the wooden box up from the basement level.
The pulleys squeaked loudly in protest, but the sturdy wooden carriage finally arrived at our floor.
"You have to climb inside with the baby," I instructed, testing the strength of the old floorboards.
"I will lower you down to the basement, and then I will take the stairs and meet you at my car."
Lucy hesitated, looking terrified at the dark, claustrophobic shaft dropping deep into the building.
But then Adrian's heavy fist began to aggressively pound on my front door again.
"Mrs. Carmen, I know she is in there," Adrian shouted from the hallway, his polite facade completely shattered.
Lucy did not hesitate for another second.
She climbed awkwardly into the dusty wooden box, clutching her baby tightly against her chest.
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I grabbed the heavy rope, slowly releasing the tension to lower my neighbors safely down into the darkness.
Just as the dumbwaiter disappeared from view, my front door exploded inward with a deafening crash.
