"Daddy, There's Something Under the Table"

CHAPTER 4 - THE CHOICE VANESSA MADE

Sophie whimpered in the darkness.

Daniel reached under the table, found her hand, and pulled both girls toward the wall. Vanessa used the light from the blue phone to guide them.

"The pantry," Daniel whispered. "There's another telephone."

"The doors will open before we reach it," Vanessa said.

Daniel knew she was right.

Grant turned the key from the hallway. The old lock resisted, but not for long.

Vanessa pressed Claire's phone into Daniel's hand.

"Take them."

"What are you doing?"

"Making the choice I should have made the moment Ruby called me."

She moved toward the doors.

Daniel caught her arm. "Protecting Ruby doesn't mean sacrificing yourself."

Vanessa looked at Sophie. "I brought danger into your home. Then I made your daughter doubt herself because I was ashamed of my fear."

Sophie stepped forward.

"Come with us."

Those three words changed Vanessa's expression.

She stopped trying to face Grant alone.

Daniel led them through the pantry. Behind the shelves was a narrow servants' passage he had discovered during renovations. It connected to the front hall, but a section of flooring remained unfinished.

They would have to move carefully.

Behind them, the dining room doors opened.

"Vanessa?" Grant called.

Ruby froze.

Vanessa crouched before her.

"You don't have to hide for him anymore, and neither do I."

Daniel went first, carrying Sophie over the missing floorboards. Vanessa followed with Ruby.

They reached the pantry telephone. Daniel lifted the receiver and heard a dial tone.

He called 911, gave the address, and explained that an armed intruder was inside with two children present.

Then Ruby's phone beeped.

One percent.

Grant heard it.

The pantry door shook as he struck it from the other side.

"Give me the phone!" he shouted.

Daniel sent Claire's recording to his own email and handed the device back to Ruby.

The pantry lock began to splinter.

Outside, tires crunched across the gravel drive.

Red and blue lights flashed through the windows.

But the pantry door burst inward before the first officer reached the house.

Grant stepped through, holding a kitchen knife.