Chapter 2 - The Silent Alarm and the Escape Plan
The champagne glass slipped from my fingers. It shattered against the polished hardwood floor of the ballroom, the sharp crack swallowed instantly by the swelling notes of the string quartet. A few guests nearby turned their heads, murmuring polite concerns, but I couldn't breathe.
Grant’s smile across the room didn't waver. It grew wider, colder, predatory.
He knows Ethan saw.
The horror paralyzed my limbs for a fraction of a second, but motherly instinct snapped me back to reality with terrifying clarity. If Grant and Colin were willing to drug my sister and rob her blind, they wouldn't hesitate to silence an eight-year-old boy who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"Mom?" Ethan whimpered, his lower lip trembling as he gripped my waist even tighter.
"Don't look at him," I whispered fiercely, dropping to my knees and pulling Ethan's jacket hood over his head. "Listen to me very carefully, Ethan. We are going to play a game. You are going to walk straight out the front doors to Mr. Henderson’s taxi. Do you remember him? The old driver who brought us here?"
Ethan nodded wide-eyed.
"Tell him to drive you two miles down the road to the gas station, lock the doors, and call Aunt Sarah from my emergency contacts list. Do not let anyone else in the car. Do you understand?"
"Where are you going, Mom?" he asked, tears spilling over his lashes. "I'm not leaving you with them!"
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"I have to go find your Aunt Melissa," I said, my voice cracking before I hardened my resolve. "I'm going to save her. Go, Ethan. Run!"
Before Grant could break away from the head table, I pushed Ethan toward the side exit leading to the service corridor, watching until the heavy metal door clicked shut behind him. Only then did I turn back to face the ballroom, wiping the panic from my face and replacing it with a mask of frozen calm.
