Page 94 of Coordinates of Death

“Don’t leave me in a creepy mansion like that. We stay together.”

Aurora raised a brow. “You know I’m a cop, right?”

Noises thudded above their heads, slow and uneven as if a heavy object was being dragged and dropped. Each thud echoed, intensifying Kordell’s angst. “What is that?”

The basement door creaked open.

Aurora sprang from her position and ran up the stairs.

Not again. “Wait!” Kordell sprinted after her.

He reached the stairs the second Aurora stepped through the open door.

Kordell followed, but the door slammed shut. He turned the knob. Locked. “No!” He mustered strength and slammed his body into the door.

But it didn’t budge.

“Aurora! Open up.”

Rushed footsteps filtered through the closed door.

“Who’s there?” Aurora’s voice was barely audible.

“Aurora!” Kordell threw his shoulder into the door again.

And again.

The hinges rattled, loosening bit by bit. Almost—

A blood-curdling scream pierced the night.

Aurora’s.

Thud after thud reverberated, mimicking the eerie rhythm of something—or someone—falling down the stairs.

No! Kordell’s pulse spiked, threatening to plunge him over the edge.

Chapter Seventeen

Aurora’s foggy brain wrestled against emerging from the black abyss as if staying there would protect her from the enemies threatening her life, but a single muffled voice fought to bring her back. Kordell? Daddy? Sharp jabs of pain pierced her arm. Someone shook her shoulders, rousing her to the surface. She blinked her eyes to clear the murkiness. Kordell’s face came into focus.

“There you are.” Kordell rummaged through his backpack.

“What—what happened?” She tried to sit up. “Where am I?”

“Stay still.” He eased her back down. “You don’t remember?”

She rubbed her head. “I heard the basement door click open, so I went to check it out. You didn’t follow?”

“I tried, but as I got to the top, someone shut and locked the door again. I was finally able to open it by slamming into it multiple times.”

“My mind is clearing. A noise came from another entrance, and when I investigated, someone pushed me from behind. I fell down a different set of stairs. I’m guessing they’re an entrance to the downstairs of the servants’ quarters or something.” Her arm continued to throb. “It hurts.”

“You must have cut your arm on the metal railing, or someone cut you. I’ll look after it. It’s fairly deep and will definitely require stitches.” He added a wad of gauze to the wound and pressed.

She hissed in a breath.

“Sorry, but I need to stop the bleeding. Did you see the person who pushed you?”