Chapter 4 - The Weapon of Truth
My heart hammered against my ribs like a trapped bird. Every instinct screamed at me to run, but my legs felt rooted to the floorboards. I looked down at my sleeping son, then up at the silver poker gleaming under the hallway sconce.
"You think you're untouchable," I said, my voice steadying despite the terror clawing at my throat. "You think because you got away with Clara and Sarah that you can do it forever."
Eleanor laughed—a cold, brittle sound that echoed off the high ceilings. "Clara was foolish. Sarah was weak. And you? You're just a frightened girl holding a baby with a broken bone. Who do you think the police are going to believe? A grieving husband and a respected matriarch, or a hysterical runaway mother with a history of clumsiness?"
She raised the poker, stepping closer. "Give me the boy."
Instead of retreating, I took one sharp step forward, pulling my phone out with my left hand. "You might want to check who is on the other end of this line, Eleanor."
Eleanor paused, her eyes narrowing as she stared at the glowing screen. The speaker icon was illuminated.
"Detective Vance," a gravelly voice boomed from the phone's speaker, filling the silent hallway with authoritative clarity. "This is Ashford County Dispatch. We have your location, Eleanor. State troopers and emergency units are currently breaching the front gates of 412 Blackwood Lane with a federal search and seizure warrant. Drop the weapon immediately."
Color drained from Eleanor's face. For the first time since I had met her, the unbreakable mask of aristocratic poise fractured. She lunged forward with the poker, swinging it viciously toward my head.
I ducked instinctively, taking a glancing blow to my good shoulder that sent me sprawling onto the plush carpet. Toby let out a piercing shriek of terror, waking up and thrashing in the blanket.
Footsteps thundered up the grand staircase behind Eleanor. Marcus appeared at the top of the landing, disheveled in his pajamas, his eyes wild with panic.
"Mom! What is going on?" Marcus shouted, looking down at me on the floor and then at Eleanor, who was now desperately trying to punch the End Call button on my phone.
"She called the police, you idiot!" Eleanor screamed, raising the poker to strike again.
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Before she could bring it down, the front doors downstairs splintered open with a deafening crash, followed by the booming shouts of armed state troopers flooding the foyer.
"State police! Nobody move!"
