Chapter 4 - THE SAFE HOUSE
Eleanor walked through the rain-slicked city streets for two hours.
She kept her head down to hide her dirty face from passersby.
Every police siren in the distance sent a wave of panic through her chest.
She finally arrived at a small, rundown apartment building in the suburbs.
This was the home of Clara, her former high school teacher.
Eleanor knocked frantically on the back door of the basement unit.
The door opened slightly, revealing an elderly woman with sharp eyes.
"Eleanor? Good Lord, child, what happened to you?" Clara gasped.
"Clara, please... I have nowhere else to go," Eleanor sobbed.
Clara quickly pulled Eleanor inside and locked the door securely.
She wrapped a warm blanket around Eleanor’s shivering shoulders.
"I saw the news on television," Clara said gravely.
"They're reporting that you intentionally set the Sterling mansion on fire."
"They are lying!" Eleanor said fiercely.
"Richard and Victoria wanted to kill Arthur to claim his inheritance!"
Clara’s eyes widened in utter shock.
"Arthur’s real mother left him a multi-million-dollar trust fund," Eleanor explained.
"Richard only gains control of it if Arthur dies before his seventh birthday!"
"His seventh birthday is in three days," Clara noted softly.
"Exactly," Eleanor said, her teeth chattering.
"They tried to burn him alive in his wheelchair!"
"And now they are framing you so no one believes the truth," Clara realized.
"I need to get Leo," Eleanor said, trying to stand up.
"He's staying with my aunt on 5th Street."
"It's too dangerous, Eleanor," Clara warned, holding her shoulders.
"The police will have officers watching your aunt's house."
Before Eleanor could reply, Clara's home phone began to ring loudly.
The ring echoed through the small basement apartment like a death toll.
May you like
Clara looked at the caller ID display.
The screen read: UNKNOWN CALLER.
