Chapter 4
CHAPTER 4 — The Shadow in the Mirror
I held my breath, pressing my back against the damp brick wall of the cellar.
The footsteps above were soft, methodical, moving from the kitchen toward the living room where my husband’s body had been found.
I turned off my phone’s flashlight, plunging myself into an absolute, suffocating darkness.
Every sense I had was heightened; I could hear the drip of water from a pipe in the corner, the rush of my own blood in my ears.
The basement door at the top of the stairs creaked open.
A thin wedge of yellow light spilled down the wooden steps, cutting through the gloom.
— Elena? a voice called out.
It wasn't a monster.
It wasn't a corporate hitman.
It was Isabel.
Her voice sounded hollow, shaking with a strange mixture of fear and anticipation as she stepped onto the top landing.
— I know you’re here, Elena.
— I saw the subway camera feeds. I knew you’d come back to the house.
I didn't answer. I stayed frozen in the shadows, my hand finding a heavy metal wrench on the workbench beside me.
— You shouldn't have left the hospital, she continued, her voice growing closer as she began to descend the stairs, her designer heels clicking against the wood.
— Miller is going to find you. He’s going to think you’re trying to destroy evidence.
She reached the bottom of the stairs, her flashlight beam sweeping across the concrete floor, illuminating the empty paint cans.
When the light hit the brick wall where I was standing, I stepped into the beam.
She flinched, the flashlight jumping in her hand, her face pale beneath her perfectly styled hair.
— You, I said, my voice dropping into a low, dangerous register.
— You set me up, Isabel.
Isabel took a step back, her back pressing against the wooden banister of the stairs, her eyes darting to the open cellar door behind her.
— I don't know what you’re talking about, she stammered, but her voice lacked conviction, the elegant facade cracking to reveal the panic beneath.
— I was at home, Elena. I told you I had to run an errand.
— You weren't at home. You were waiting for the phone call, I said, taking a step toward her, the heavy wrench tight in my grip.
— You knew exactly what Daniel was doing. You knew he was coming here to kill my family.
— No! she shrieked, her voice echoing in the small basement.
— Daniel said he was just going to talk to Mark! He said he was going to offer him a buyout he couldn't refuse!
— By poisoning him? By injecting my ten-year-old son with a sedative?
I threw the glass vial with the Helios logo at her feet. It shattered against the concrete, the tiny shards glittering in the light.
— He used your husband’s research, Isabel. He used the compounds from his lab.
— And you helped him. You called me, you made me wait on your porch like a fool while my husband died.
Isabel fell to her knees, her hands flying to her face as she began to weep, her shoulders shaking violently.
— He said we were going to lose the house, Elena, she sobbed, the truth finally pouring out like bile.
— He said the creditors were coming for everything. The land was our only way out.
— He said Mark would never agree to sell because of the heritage. He said he had to... remove the obstacle.
— But he promised me he wouldn't hurt Leo! He said the boy would just sleep!
I looked at my sister, the woman I had shared a bedroom with for eighteen years, and felt a cold, dead emptiness where my love for her used to be.
— He lied to you, Isabel, I said softly.
— And now, he’s going to use you as the scapegoat when the police realize the forgery was too perfect.
A shadow fell over the basement stairs, blocking out the light from the kitchen.
Daniel Carter stood at the top of the landing, a heavy silencer attached to the barrel of the pistol in his hand.
May you like
— She’s right, Isabel, Daniel said, his voice completely devoid of emotion as he looked down at his wife.
— You really shouldn't have talked to her.
