Page 68 of Silver Hills' Christmas Miracle

Reaching the wall, I pressed against it. The rough stonework caught against my finger, and my feet slid slightly in the cold mud. Following the wall, I reached the glass doors leading to the kitchen and peered inside. It was pitch black and my own reflection was the only thing staring back at me in the glass.

If I walked in here and everything was fine, I was going to look incredibly foolish.

At least it would give me a chance to talk to Samuel.

By some stroke of luck, the kitchen doors weren’t locked. I pushed down slowly on the handle and opened the door, bracing for the blare of the alarm.

Nothing came.

There was only silence.

Something was definitely wrong.

Inside, I crouched by the island counter and drew one of the steak knives from the sheaths. Everything pointed to a threat, and I wasn’t going any further unarmed.

The longer I was in the kitchen, the more my eyes grew accustomed to the darkness. I was able to make out the outline of the door leading further into the house. I stepped around the island counter, and my foot immediately lost all traction on the tiles. It flew out from underneath me, skidding across the floor, and I hastily grabbed the counter for balance.

Did someone spill something…?

I used my phone to turn on the small flashlight, keeping it aimed at the floor so it wouldn’t catch any attention.

Blood.

There were streaks of blood all over the floor leading to where I’d regained my grip with my foot.

My heart sank and tension stabbed through my gut.

Please, please, please don’t be…

I’d never be able to admit to the relief that flooded through me when I followed the pool of blood and found Paul’s face and not Kitty’s.

“Paul?” I dropped to my knees and touched his cheek. It was cool but not completely void of warmth. When I pressed my fingers against his neck, a faint pulse fluttered underneath. He was clinging to life. It was far too dark to work out the source of the bleeding, but he was alive, currently, and that was all that mattered.

I sent a quick text to Melanie, telling her to call the police again and inform them that several guards were injured. That would stoke a much faster reaction.

Then I stood and crept toward the door with the knife in my hand.

Nothing and no one else mattered except Kitty, and I wasn’t stopping until I found her.

I crept out into the hallway, squinting under the yellow light after spending so long in the dark. Luckily, there was no one in the hallway and the manor was eerily silent. In all my months working here, I’d never heard it like this. There’d always been someone bustling about, staff or family members, even guards just going about their business.

Now, there was nothing, and each creak of the wooden floor as I moved sounded like a gunshot to my ears. I moved as slowly as I could, hugging the left wall. I’d need to sweep the lower floors before heading up.

If Kitty was here, I’d find her.

The first few rooms I checked were empty. The bathroom, a closet, and a staff break room were also empty. A few of the doors were locked, and without the key, all I could do was knock lightly on the door. No one answered.

Until I made it to the study and a soft murmur of voices rose up from inside. The study still had the iron key hanging from the lock. I twisted it slowly, and the lock clunked, silencing the voices inside. Brandishing the knife, I threw open the door and charged inside to find Samuel and Mrs. Morgan huddled together on the couch.

“Rook!” Mrs. Morgan gasped.

“Hugo!” Samuel’s face went wide. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Does it matter?” Mrs. Morgan snapped. “He’s here, isn’t he?”

I closed the door softly after glancing outside to make sure no one had appeared in the hall and spotted me, then I hurried closer.

“What’s going on?”

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