Chapter 13: The Last Reach Across the Marble
Madison moved before I could decide whether she was going to stop.
One moment she stood beyond Ethan’s shoulder, her crimson sleeve bright against the pale foyer. The next, she crossed the wet marble in a straight line toward me. Her shoes made small, hard sounds against the floor. I held the black phone tighter with both hands and backed away, keeping it against my chest.
The movement pulled at my arms. The screen stayed lit between my fingers, showing the frozen image from the recording. Clara was on the floor. Madison’s hand was extended. The water from the overturned bucket shone beneath them like a second, broken picture.
I did not raise my hands toward Madison. I did not push her. I only turned my body so the phone was behind my ribs.
Clara shifted on her knees behind Ethan. Her face was pale, and the blood at the corner of her lip had darkened. One hand pressed against the marble while the other reached toward the place where Ethan stood. He moved with her, keeping his body between us and Madison.
Madison changed direction.
She did not come straight at me this time. She angled around the edge of the staircase, where the marble rose dry and clean beneath the first steps. Her eyes stayed on the phone. The rest of the room seemed to disappear from her attention—the bucket, the spreading water, Clara’s injured mouth, even Ethan.
That was what frightened me most. She was not looking at my face.
I backed toward the base of the stairs until my heel touched the lowest step. The phone pressed hard into my shirt. Its warmth had faded, but the screen still showed the proof. I could feel every corner of the case against my palms.
Madison reached out.
Her fingers were less than a hand’s width from my wrist when Ethan stepped across her path. His arm came down between us, not striking her, but making a solid barrier. Madison stopped with her hand suspended in the air.
For a moment, nobody moved.
Water slipped from the overturned bucket and crept toward Ethan’s shoe. He glanced down once, then back at Madison. Behind him, Clara remained low on the floor, her shoulder close to the base of the grand staircase. She had nowhere to retreat without crossing the wet marble.
Madison’s hand lowered, but she did not step away. Her gaze traveled from Ethan’s face to the phone hidden against me. I understood then that she had been testing the space, measuring the distance, waiting for the one opening when Ethan might turn to Clara.
I kept the phone covered.
Ethan shifted backward, placing himself fully between us. His shadow fell across my shoes. I could see Clara’s fingers curl against the floor behind him. She drew herself closer to his legs, and he widened his stance so she was covered from both sides.
Madison tried once more.
She lunged around Ethan’s left shoulder, fast enough that the edge of her pantsuit brushed his sleeve. I stepped sideways, away from her reach, and the phone knocked against the stair rail. The impact jolted through my hands. The screen flickered.
I froze.
The recording remained there.
Ethan caught Madison’s forearm before she could reach me. He held her away from my body and the phone, his grip firm but controlled. Madison pulled once, then again. Her shoes slid slightly on the damp marble. The movement carried her near the water and exposed the same unstable patch where Clara had fallen.
Clara’s position made the truth visible. She was behind Ethan, not advancing. I was retreating, not attacking. Madison was the only one crossing the space.
Ethan released her only after she stopped pulling. He did not move aside. Madison stood several feet away, breathing hard, her attention fixed on the phone.
The evidence was still intact. So was the danger.
She remained inside the mansion, and beyond the foyer the documents were still hidden somewhere she had not reached. Ethan kept his back to Clara and his eyes on Madison. I lowered the phone just enough to see the screen clearly, then held it against my chest again.
May you like
No one crossed the room.
But Madison’s unfinished reach pointed toward whatever she would try next.
