Chapter 5
Donovan pulled the heavy padlock. Just as Leonie had confessed, the shackle slipped easily out of the steel latch. It was a visual deterrent, nothing more. A decoy designed to keep the kitchen staff away without arousing the suspicion of a lost key. He tossed the heavy metal lock onto the concrete floor, where it landed with a deafening, echoing clatter.
He gripped the massive steel handle of the walk-in freezer.
“Will you turn my son around and cover his eyes, Maisie?” Donovan asked, not looking back.
“Yes, Mr. Pierce,” Maisie answered instantly. She spun around, turning her back to the steel door, and pressed Eddie's face firmly into her collarbone, shielding him entirely from whatever horror lay beyond the frost.
Donovan pulled the handle. The heavy door groaned, the rubber seals breaking with a loud, suctioning hiss. A thick cloud of freezing, white vapor rolled out of the dark room, pouring over Donovan’s polished leather shoes and creeping up Leonie’s torn satin gown. The biting cold immediately cut through the basement air.
Donovan stepped inside the massive, metallic room. The overhead fluorescent lights flickered on, buzzing loudly. The freezer was lined with stainless steel shelves holding massive cuts of meat, crates of produce, and towering blocks of ice.
But shoved into the very back corner, partially hidden behind stacked boxes of imported seafood, was a large, heavy-duty chest freezer. It was an older model, rarely used, kept primarily as an overflow unit.
Donovan walked slowly toward it. His tailored dark three-piece suit seemed to absorb the harsh lighting. He didn't speak. He reached down and lifted the heavy white lid of the chest freezer.
The silence that followed was the heaviest, most agonizing stretch of time Maisie had ever experienced. She kept her eyes glued to the brick wall in front of her, holding her breath, waiting for the mafia boss to scream, to break things, to explode in a fit of apocalyptic rage.
But Donovan Pierce did not scream.
He simply stood there, staring down into the frost for a long, terrifying minute. His powerful shoulders went completely rigid. The muscles in his back flexed, locking into a state of absolute, unbreakable tension. Slowly, he lowered the lid, sealing the chest freezer once more.
He turned around and walked out of the walk-in unit, stepping back into the corridor. His face was a mask of cold, terrifying stone. His observant eyes were completely pitch black, stripped of all humanity.
Leonie was backed against the brick wall, weeping hysterically, her hands covering her face.
“Did you truly believe the ice would hide your sins forever, Leonie?” Donovan asked, his deep, quiet voice vibrating with a lethal energy.
“I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!” Leonie shrieked, sliding down the wall until she collapsed onto her knees. “I didn't want to! It was an accident! We were arguing, and she fell! She hit her head on the marble stairs!”
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“If it was a tragic accident, why did you sever her fingers to remove her wedding ring before you froze her?” Donovan asked, his voice completely devoid of emotion.
Maisie gasped silently, squeezing her eyes shut as the gruesome reality of the murder settled into the cold basement air. The mistress hadn't just hidden a body; she had butchered a wife for her jewelry.
