Chapter 2 - THE LOCKED DOOR
The knob would not turn.
Evelyn slammed her shoulder against the door once, twice, then stepped back as smoke poured beneath it.
“They came back,” Noah whispered. “Someone came back to make sure.”
Evelyn looked around. The room had one bathroom, one sealed window, and a fireplace connected to an old maintenance shaft. Daniel Whitmore had once told her the mansion was built with hidden passages so servants could move unseen during formal parties.
She tore a brass poker from the fireplace and struck the restraint buckle until the jammed screw snapped loose.
“I can’t stand,” Noah said.
“You don’t have to.”
Evelyn wrapped a blanket around him, lifted him against her chest, and staggered toward the fireplace. At twelve, Noah was too heavy for her to carry far, but fear gave her strength she did not know she had.
The maintenance panel was stuck. She kicked it until the wood split.
Behind it, a narrow passage dropped toward the servants’ laundry room.
“Hold on to my neck,” she told him.
They crawled through darkness while fire roared behind them. Halfway down, Noah began coughing hard.
“Don’t fall asleep,” Evelyn said.
“I’m not tired.”
“You’re lying.”
“So are you. You’re scared.”
“Yes,” she said. “But scared people can still move.”
They reached the laundry room just as part of the ceiling collapsed. Evelyn shielded Noah with her body. A hot beam pinned the edge of her dress.
Noah grabbed a broken mop handle and shoved the fabric free.
Together, they crawled through a side door into the cold night.
Firefighters rushed toward them. Cameras flashed. Guests shouted.
But the Whitmores did not look relieved.
Victoria’s face went pale when she saw the blue folder tucked under Evelyn’s arm.
Charles stepped forward. “Give me that.”
Evelyn tightened her grip. “Your grandson was tied to his bed.”
Grant laughed sharply. “She’s confused from smoke.”
Noah lifted his head from the stretcher.
“No,” he said. “They left me because of what’s in that folder.”
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A police captain turned toward the family.
Then Victoria pointed at Evelyn and shouted, “Arrest her. She started the fire.”
