ELOISE
The heavy oak door of the Weller estate kitchen didn’t just close; it slammed with a finality that seemed to cut off the oxygen in the room.
Outside, the fading gravel crunch of Chad’s truck and Jake’s sports car signaling their hurried departure down the driveway left behind a silence so absolute it made my ears ring. The air inside the sprawling, hyper-modern kitchen still smelled faintly of the humid afternoon storm brewing outside, mixed with the metallic, sharp tang of fresh blood.
I stood frozen by the edge of the massive marble island, my fingers gripping the cold stone so tightly my nails turned translucent. My heart was a frantic, wild beast throwing itself against the bars of my ribs. I couldn't take my eyes off the floor near the mudroom entrance—three distinct, da
