Mr. Howell: What do you mean she never left?! I bought her flight ticket myself! I drove her to the airport!
Maid: AHHH! Please, Mr. Howell, don't hurt me! I tried to tell you, but he threatened to kill me!
Mr. Howell: Who threatened you?! Who is in my house?!
Lily: Daddy, stop! Don't hurt Maria! She tried to save Mommy!
Mr. Howell let go of the maid’s shoulders, taking a step back as his chest heaved up and down. He looked from Maria’s terrified face back to his daughter, who was still kneeling on the marble floor holding the blood-soaked towel.
Mr. Howell: Lily, look at me. Take a deep breath and tell Daddy exactly what happened in this house today.
Lily: Mommy came back from the airport on Tuesday night... she was crying, Dad. She said she forgot her passport, but when she opened the front door, a man was waiting in your study.
Mr. Howell: A man? What man? Who was in my private study?
Lily: The man who helps you with the money... Uncle Victor.
Mr. Howell felt the air leave his lungs. Victor was his business partner, his childhood friend, and the chief financial officer of Howell Enterprises. Victor had complete access to his home, his private security codes, and his family’s offshore trust funds.
Mr. Howell: Victor? Why would Victor be in my home while I was at the corporate conference in Chicago?
Maid: Because he’s been stealing from your offshore accounts for months, Mr. Howell! Mrs. Howell caught him going through your floor safe in the study three nights ago!
Mr. Howell: My safe? There are millions in stock certificates and family bearer bonds in that safe...
Maid: She threatened to call the police right then and there. Victor grabbed her... he dragged her down to the wine cellar under the sub-basement!
Mr. Howell: The wine cellar? That door has been locked for two years! The key is in my desk drawer!
Maid: He had a duplicate key, sir! He locked her down there in the dark! He said if she made a sound, he would ruin your business and take Lily away!
Lily: I heard Mommy screaming down the laundry chute, Daddy... I went down the stairs while Maria was cleaning the guest room...
Mr. Howell: Oh God... Lily, did you go into the sub-basement by yourself?
Lily: I tried to open the iron door... Mommy pushed this towel through the bottom gap under the door! She told me to run and find you!
Mr. Howell dropped back to his knees, taking the bloody cloth from his daughter's hands. The blood was fresh. His wife was down there, bleeding, locked in the dark beneath his own feet while he was busy signing multi-million dollar merger deals across the country.
Mr. Howell: Maria, take Lily upstairs to the master bedroom right now. Lock the door from the inside and do not open it for anyone except me.
Maid: Yes, Mr. Howell! Please be careful, sir... Victor said he was coming back at four o'clock to finish clearing out the safe!
Mr. Howell: Let him come. He has no idea I landed three hours early.