Chapter 20 - Into the Shadows Below
The mansion's basement was a sprawling labyrinth of archives, utility networks, and heavy machinery. Camille fled into the darkness, the clicking of her high heels against the cold concrete echoing frantically.
Police officers and private security guards swiftly sealed every perimeter exit. Rafe, despite his impaired mobility, insisted on leaning on his cane to accompany the lead investigator down into the basement. He refused to let the woman who murdered his wife and threatened his daughter slip away again.
"Camille! You have nowhere left to run! The basement is completely surrounded!" the officer shouted through a megaphone, his voice bouncing off the cold stone walls.
Cowering behind the emergency backup generator in the dark, Camille panted heavily, her trembling hands pulling out a pocket lighter and a bottle of industrial solvent. Her eyes burned with the unhinged madness of someone who had lost everything.
"If I can't have this wealth... then nobody will! This mansion, the company... everything burns tonight!" Camille shrieked into the gloom.
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Ruth, having safely handed Maisie over to a trusted nurse, arrived at the basement entrance. She knew the mansion's infrastructure intimately from her cleaning duties. "Mr. Rafe, behind that generator lies the main natural gas line for the entire estate! If she strikes a flame, the whole house will detonate!"
That terrifying realization sent a wave of icy dread through everyone present.
