Chapter 6 - The Trap at Mercer Island
The rain turned into a heavy windstorm by Tuesday night.
The trees surrounding the Mercer Island estate groaned against the dark sky, tossing heavy pine needles against the glass walls.
Julian Croft had left for downtown at eight o'clock to prepare the legal filings for the board meeting.
Claire sat in the central living room, wrapped in a thick cream sweater, working on her fellowship research notes. Across the room, Adrian sat at a grand piano, his long fingers lightly moving over the keys, playing a quiet, melancholic piece of classical music.
He didn't wear his dark glasses. In the safety of his home, with only Claire present, he allowed himself to see.
Claire looked up from her computer, watching the way the soft lamplight caught the hard edges of his jaw.
“You play well,” she said softly over the sound of the piano.
Adrian’s fingers paused on the keys. He looked over at her.
“My mother taught me before she died,” Adrian said gently. “It was the only thing in this family that wasn't tied to money.”
He stood up from the bench and walked over to the sofa, sitting down beside her. The distance between them had completely dissolved over the past few days, replaced by an intense, unspoken closeness that neither of them dared to name.
“Your mother is doing well today,” Adrian reported. “The clinic director called me at three. She walked fifty feet without assistance.”
Claire smiled—a real, radiant smile that lit up her entire face.
“Thank you, Adrian. Really.”
Adrian reached out, his hand gently wrapping around hers. “You don't have to thank me, Claire. I told you, it’s part of—”
“Don't say the contract,” Claire interrupted gently, looking directly into his eyes. “We both know this isn't about the contract anymore.”
Adrian went quiet. His thumb slowly stroked the back of her hand, feeling the soft skin, the small gold band sitting on her finger.
“Claire—” he began softly.
Suddenly, every light in the house went out.
The ambient hum of the heating system died instantly, leaving only the sound of the howling wind outside.
The house was plunged into pitch-black darkness.
Claire gasped, her hand tightening around Adrian’s.
“Adrian?”
Adrian didn't panic. His posture went completely rigid, his senses sharp as an apex predator’s.
“The main power line was cut,” Adrian whispered in her ear, his arm instantly wrapping around her shoulders to pull her behind him. “The backup generator didn't kick in, which means someone manually tripped the breaker in the lower cellar.”
“The security guards?” Claire whispered, her heart hammering against her ribs.
“Silent,” Adrian spat coldly. “Whoever did this knew our perimeter codes.”
He stood up quietly, pulling Claire along with him into the deep shadows near the stone fireplace.
“Stay behind me,” Adrian ordered, his voice barely audible over the wind.
“Adrian, it’s dark,” Claire whispered, sudden realization hitting her. “You can see in the dark, but—”
“I trained for eighteen months in complete blindness, Claire,” Adrian whispered back, a faint, dangerous shadow of a smile touching his lips in the dark. “In this house, in the dark, I know every inch of floorboard. They came into my world.”
A soft glass-cracking sound echoed from the lower kitchen terrace.
May you like
Two shadows, illuminated only by the faint silver moonlight filtering through the rain-streaked windows, moved silently into the grand hallway.
They carried suppressed handguns.
