Chapter 2 - THE MEN AT THE GATE
Nathan’s first instinct was to walk outside and put Marcus Kane into the snow with his bare hands.
His second instinct was the one that saved them.
He remained beside Lily.
He kept the doors locked.
He picked up his phone and called Detective Elena Ruiz.
Elena answered on the second ring.
“Nathan?”
Her voice was heavy with sleep.
“I need you to listen carefully.”
Something in his tone silenced her immediately.
“Sarah’s daughter arrived at my house with two newborn infants.”
Elena did not speak for several seconds.
“What did you say?”
“Lily is five.”
Nathan looked at the child.
“She carried the babies through the storm.”
“Where is Sarah?”
“Missing.”
Nathan lowered his voice.
“Marcus attacked her.”
Elena inhaled sharply.
“Have you called the sheriff?”
“He is standing outside my gate with Marcus.”
“Do not open it.”
“I was not planning to.”
“Creed has been under review for months.”
Elena’s voice became urgent.
“We have never had enough evidence to move against him.”
“Sarah warned me not to trust him.”
“Keep the children inside.”
“I need an ambulance.”
“I’ll contact state emergency services directly.”
A violent pounding shook the front door.
Marcus had walked up the driveway while Nathan was speaking.
His face appeared through the narrow glass panel beside the door.
Snow covered his black coat and dark hair.
He looked older than Nathan remembered.
Harder.
But the smirk was the same.
“Nathan.”
Marcus raised his voice.
“Open the door.”
Lily shrank beneath the blanket.
Nathan stepped between her and the entrance.
“You are not coming inside.”
“My children are in there.”
“Your children nearly froze to death escaping from you.”
Marcus’s expression did not change.
“Sarah has been unstable for years.”
Nathan’s hand tightened around the phone.
“She took the babies without permission.”
“She gave them to Lily.”
“Lily is confused.”
Marcus placed one gloved hand against the glass.
“My wife suffered a psychotic episode.”
Nathan glanced at Sarah’s bracelet.
“You mean another episode like the one you manufactured at Cedar Vale?”
For the first time, Marcus’s confidence slipped.
Only slightly.
But Nathan saw it.
Sheriff Creed moved beside Marcus.
The sheriff was a broad man in his late fifties with silver hair and the relaxed posture of someone accustomed to obedience.
“Dr. Pierce, we received a report of three abducted children.”
“You received that report from the man accused of attacking their mother.”
“We have not found evidence of an attack.”
“There is blood at the house.”
Creed’s eyes narrowed.
“You have been there?”
“No.”
“Then you do not know what is there.”
“I know what Lily saw.”
“A five-year-old child suffering from severe hypothermia is not a reliable witness.”
Lily’s fingers tightened around Nathan’s wrist.
Nathan lowered his voice.
“She is more reliable than either man standing outside my door.”
Creed stepped closer to the glass.
“You are interfering with lawful custody.”
Nathan looked toward the two deputies waiting near the porch.
Neither appeared comfortable.
“You do not have a warrant.”
“I do not need one to recover endangered children.”
“You need one to enter my house.”
Creed’s face hardened.
“We can do this peacefully.”
Marcus spoke again.
“Let me take my family home.”
Lily made a small sound.
Nathan turned toward her.
She was shaking again, but not from the cold.
“Rosa.”
Nathan kept his eyes on Marcus.
“Take Lily and the twins into the safe room.”
The estate’s safe room had been installed after a former patient’s family threatened Nathan over an unsuccessful surgery.
It contained reinforced walls, medical supplies, independent power, and a second security monitor.
Rosa lifted Owen.
Nathan carefully carried Ethan, oxygen mask and all, while Lily tried to stand.
Her legs gave way.
Nathan picked her up with his free arm.
She weighed almost nothing.
“Don’t let him take us.”
Her mouth was close to Nathan’s ear.
“I won’t.”
The promise left his lips before he had time to consider it.
This time, he intended to keep it.
Rosa secured the safe-room door behind them.
Nathan returned to the entryway.
Creed was speaking into his radio.
A moment later, one of the deputies approached the gate’s control box.
“Do not touch that gate.”
Nathan’s voice carried through the outdoor speakers.
The deputy stopped.
Creed smiled without warmth.
“You are making this more difficult than it needs to be.”
Nathan held up his phone.
“This conversation is being recorded.”
The smile disappeared.
“And Detective Elena Ruiz is on her way.”
Creed glanced at Marcus.
The reaction was brief, but it confirmed Sarah’s warning.
They were afraid of Elena.
Marcus moved away from the door and called someone.
Nathan could not hear the words through the storm.
The lights inside the mansion flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then every light went out.
The security monitor turned black.
Rosa called from the safe room.
“Nathan?”
“I’m here.”
The emergency generator should have activated automatically.
It did not.
Someone had disabled it.
A metallic crash sounded near the side of the house.
Nathan opened a locked cabinet beneath the stairs and removed a flashlight.
He also took the handgun stored inside, checked the safety, and held it pointed toward the floor.
He hated firearms.
He hated the helplessness that had made him reach for one more.
Another crash came from the kitchen.
Glass breaking.
Marcus’s voice called from outside.
“This can stop, Nathan.”
Nathan moved through the dark hallway.
“You always thought you were better than everyone.”
The voice shifted nearer to the broken kitchen window.
“You thought a medical degree made you God.”
Nathan passed the living room.
The fire cast restless shadows across the walls.
“You could not save your parents.”
Marcus continued speaking.
“You could not save your sister.”
Nathan stopped.
His parents had died in a car accident nine years earlier.
Marcus had never known them.
At least, he should not have known enough to use their deaths this way.
“You could not save Sarah then.”
Marcus’s boots crushed broken glass.
“And you will not save her now.”
Nathan aimed the flashlight toward the kitchen.
Marcus stood inside.
His coat was open.
A pistol rested in his right hand.
Nathan raised his own weapon.
“Put it down.”
Marcus smiled.
“You are a surgeon.”
His pistol lifted.
“You do not have the nerve.”
Nathan kept his breathing steady.
“I have three children behind that wall.”
“You mean my children.”
“I mean the children you tried to kill.”
Marcus’s eyes darkened.
“You have no idea what Sarah has done.”
“She survived you.”
“That is not what I meant.”
The front door suddenly burst open.
Sheriff Creed entered with his weapon drawn.
“Both of you lower your guns.”
Marcus did not turn.
Creed aimed at Nathan.
That told Nathan everything.
“You are trespassing, Sheriff.”
“I am securing an armed suspect.”
“You brought him here.”
“Put the weapon down.”
Nathan considered the distance between them.
Creed stood fifteen feet away.
Marcus stood ten.
The safe room was behind Nathan and to his left.
If he fired, Creed would fire back.
If he lowered the gun, Marcus would reach the children.
A beam of white light swept across the driveway.
Then another.
Blue and red emergency lights appeared beyond the gate.
Creed turned toward the window.
A convoy of state patrol vehicles forced its way through the snow.
An armored emergency-response truck followed behind them.
Elena Ruiz stepped from the first vehicle before it had completely stopped.
She wore a dark winter coat over her clothes and carried her badge in one hand.
“State Police.”
Her voice thundered through a portable speaker.
“Drop every weapon.”
Marcus moved first.
He grabbed Nathan by the shoulder and pulled him backward.
The pistol pressed against Nathan’s ribs.
Creed swore.
Elena aimed through the broken window.
“Marcus.”
Her voice became calm.
“You are surrounded.”
Marcus dragged Nathan closer to the hallway.
“You think I came here for the children?”
Nathan felt the gun digging into his side.
“You did.”
Marcus leaned close enough for Nathan to smell whiskey on his breath.
“I came for the flash drive.”
Nathan said nothing.
Marcus smiled again.
“Sarah always was terrible at keeping secrets.”
He pushed Nathan away and fired at the kitchen lights even though they were already dark.
The muzzle flash blinded everyone for half a second.
Nathan threw himself behind the island.
Elena shouted.
State officers rushed through the broken window.
Creed dropped his weapon.
Marcus ran toward the rear corridor.
Nathan followed.
Marcus reached the door leading to the underground garage.
He tore it open.
Nathan caught his coat.
They struck the wall together.
Marcus swung the pistol toward Nathan’s face.
Nathan drove his forearm into Marcus’s wrist.
The gun fell down the stairs.
Marcus punched Nathan in the throat.
Nathan staggered.
Marcus kicked open the garage door and disappeared into the darkness.
An engine roared.
A stolen snowmobile shot from the lower garage and vanished between the trees.
Elena reached Nathan.
“Are you hit?”
“No.”
He struggled to breathe.
“The children.”
“They’re secure.”
State officers handcuffed Sheriff Creed in the kitchen.
Creed shouted that the entire situation was a misunderstanding.
Elena ignored him.
She followed Nathan to the safe room.
Lily was sitting beside Ethan.
Rosa held Owen against her chest.
Nathan checked the twins again.
Their temperatures were slowly rising.
Ethan’s oxygen level remained low, but the emergency medical crew had arrived.
Paramedics began preparing all three children for transport to a state-operated medical center in Seattle.
Lily refused to release Nathan’s hand.
“Are you coming?”
“Yes.”
“Promise?”
Nathan looked directly into her green eyes.
“I promise.”
As the paramedics lifted her onto the stretcher, Lily reached into her coat.
She removed a small brass key attached to a red thread.
“Mommy said the bracelet would tell you where this goes.”
Nathan examined the key.
A number had been stamped into one side.
Elena looked at Sarah’s bracelet beneath the light.
The clasp contained a nearly invisible engraving Nathan had missed.
ST. AGNES ANNEX.
ROOM 317.
Elena’s face changed.
“St. Agnes was part of Cedar Vale.”
“Was?”
“The public records say it was demolished.”
Nathan closed his hand around the key.
“And the private records?”
May you like
Elena looked toward Sheriff Creed.
“The private records say someone has been paying to keep one room operational for seven years.”
