Chapter 5 - THE WHISPER THROUGH THE VENTS
Back in the basement holding cell, Elena paced the concrete floor like a caged animal. The silence of the estate felt heavy, unnatural, and suffocatingly still. There were no footsteps in the hallway, no guards checking the perimeter, and no sound of the baby crying upstairs.
Suddenly, a faint scraping sound came from the high ventilation shaft near the ceiling.
Elena stopped pacing and stared upward. A small metal grate rattled, shifting slightly as something pushed against it from the inside of the duct. Moments later, a heavy leather keyring dropped onto the concrete floor with a dull clatter, followed by a muffled cough.
"Grab the keys, Elena," a strained voice hissed from the dark opening above.
Elena dropped to her knees, scooping up the heavy brass ring in an instant. She recognized the voice immediately—it belonged to Sam, the elderly estate groundskeeper who had worked for the Sterling family for over forty years, a man Victoria had tried to fire twice for being 'too observant.'
"Sam? Are you in the vents?" Elena called out in a low whisper, standing up and sliding the largest key into the iron padlock of her cell door.
"Don't have much time," Sam wheezed from the duct. "Victoria locked Arthur in the utility shed and cut the main power grid to the security room. She's loading the bearer bonds from the study into her town car right now."
The padlock clicked open with a satisfying snap. Elena pushed the heavy iron door wide, stepping out into the dim corridor.
"Where is Arthur?" Elena asked urgently, locking the cell door behind her so no one would know she had escaped.
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"Trapped in the shed by the south garden," Sam replied, his voice echoing down the metal pipe. "She's got the master override codes, Elena. If she leaves this property with those bonds, Arthur's career is finished, and you're going down for attempted murder with a life sentence."
Elena didn't hesitate. She grabbed a heavy iron wrench left behind on a maintenance cart by the stairs and sprinted toward the service exit leading out into the twilight.
