Chapter 1 - The Plunge into the Deep End
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Elena stood three yards away from the edge of the water, her hands occupied with a heavy silver tray laden with crystal glasses of iced lemonade and freshly sliced fruit. Her dark hair was pinned back in a tight, practical bun that was already coming undone from the humidity, and her gray domestic uniform clung uncomfortably to the back of her neck.
Her attention, however, wasn't on the silver tray. It was locked ten feet away, where a mahogany stroller sat precariously close to the slippery, wet rim of the pool.
Inside the stroller sat Leo, the twelve-month-old grandson of the estate’s patriarch, Harrison Sterling. Leo’s mother had left the stroller unattended for barely thirty seconds to answer a frantic call on her cell phone inside the air-conditioned sunroom, leaving the heavy, expensive carriage resting on a slight incline of polished stone.
Elena saw it happen in slow motion.
A sudden, fierce gust of wind—a freak thermal current sweeping off the nearby lake—hit the patio canopy with a sharp crack. The wind slammed into the side of the canopy, sending a violent eddy swirling across the deck.
The stroller shifted.
The front wheel caught the edge of a slick, wet tile where a gardener had been hosing down the deck twenty minutes prior. With a faint, horrible squeak of rubber against marble, the carriage lurched forward.
“No!” Elena gasped.
She didn't think. She didn't calculate the value of her job, the risk to her uniform, or the fact that she couldn't swim well enough to handle deep water. She dropped the heavy silver tray. The crystal glasses shattered against the stone with a deafening, crystalline explosion, sending shards and ice cubes skittering across the patio.
But Elena was already moving.
Her rubber-soled work shoes scrambled across the slick tiles. She reached out, fingers stretching toward the polished brass handle of the carriage, but her fingertips only grazed the leather grip.
The stroller tipped over the coping stones and plunged directly into the deep end of the infinity pool.
The dark blue water erupted in a massive splash. The weighted mahogany chassis acted like an anchor, dragging the canopy down into ten feet of crystal-clear water. A tiny, muffled cry was instantly swallowed by the depths.
Elena did not pause at the edge.
She took one frantic, deep breath and threw herself into the deep water.
The shock of the cold water hit her chest like an iron plate. Her heavy cotton uniform immediately soaked through, dragging her downward. Bubbles roared in her ears. Through the stinging chlorine, she forced her eyes open.
The stroller was sinking upside down toward the mosaic tiles at the bottom. Leo’s tiny arms were flailing beneath the strapped five-point safety harness, bubbles streaming from his lips.
Elena kicked furiously, her lungs screaming for oxygen. She reached the submerged carriage, her hands frantically fumbling with the central plastic buckle. The mechanism was jammed with tension. She dug her fingernails into the release latch, breaking two nails against the hard plastic, until—click—the harness popped open.
She grabbed the baby by his linen shirt, pulling him against her chest.
With her legs burning and her vision dimming to black around the edges, Elena pushed off the bottom pool tiles with both feet, kicking toward the pale, shimmering rectangle of sunlight above.
Her head broke the surface.
She gasped for air, coughing violently, and hoisted the sputtering infant high above the water onto the stone ledge with her last ounce of strength.
Leo began to cough, water spewing from his mouth, before letting out a loud, piercing, life-affirming wail.
Elena tried to pull herself up onto the coping stones, but her waterlogged skirts dragged her backward. Her fingers slipped on the wet marble.
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Before she went under again, a pair of strong, rough hands seized her wrists and hauled her onto the sun-baked patio.
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