Chapter 5 - THE BLACK SEDAN IN THE BLIZZARD
The Housemaid pushed open the heavy, reinforced oak service door at the rear of the mansion.
A wall of howling, freezing wind and driving snow immediately slammed into her face, blowing her scarf back over her shoulder. The temperature outside was well below zero, and the visibility across the rear cobblestone courtyard was reduced to less than twenty feet by the blizzard.
She gripped her daughter’s small, gloved hand tightly, pulling the child close to her side as they stepped out onto the snowy stone steps.
Suddenly, the Housemaid stopped dead in her tracks.
Parked twenty feet away, in the middle of the service driveway where no civilian or staff vehicles were ever permitted, sat a dark, unmarked luxury sedan. Its high-beam headlights were cut off, running only on dim, amber parking lights that cut through the blowing snow like the glowing eyes of a predator.
Standing in the freezing whiteout beside the vehicle were four men.
They were tall, broad, wearing heavy black tactical coats and dark knit caps pulled low over their brows, partially obscuring their faces in the shadows and driving snow. They didn't look like Alessandro’s regular perimeter security team. They didn't move like them, and they didn't stand in the designated guard posts.
The Housemaid’s breath caught in her throat. A cold spike of terror—far sharper than the winter wind—hit her chest.
Beside her, the Little Girl sensed her mother’s sudden rigidity. Her small fingers tightened their grip on her mother’s gloved hand, her wide hazel eyes locking onto the dark figures standing in the storm.
Slowly, deliberately, one of the men stepped forward. Without uttering a single word, he reached out with a gloved hand, grabbed the rear door handle of the dark sedan, and pulled the heavy door wide open into the blizzard.
The interior of the car was pitch black.
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The Housemaid opened her mouth to scream, pulling her daughter back toward the oak service door, but the heavy door was already slowly swinging shut on its hydraulic hinge from the inside.
The thick, insulated oak frame clicked shut with a heavy, final thud, sealing the warm interior of the mansion and completely cutting off the view of the snowy courtyard outside.
