Chapter 7 - THE SIEGE OF STONE
⚔️ 5:00 A.M. The Defense of the Finch Estate: When the Hunter Becomes the PreyThe lights in the mansion cut out, plunged into darkness as the main power line was severed from the road.
A second later, the backup generator kicked in with a low, wet roar, casting a dim, amber glow through the hallways.
"Sadie!" Gabriel roared, sprinting up the stairs from the garage.
The house was already a war zone. The sound of high-velocity automatic gunfire echoed from the front terrace, the heavy glass windows of the living room shattering under a hail of lead.
He found Sadie in the medical clinic, her body shielded over Chloe’s bed, her hands holding an oxygen mask to the girl’s face.
"Get down!" Gabriel yelled, sliding behind a heavy steel cabinet as a burst of gunfire chewed through the drywall above the door.
"She’s waking up!" Sadie screamed over the noise. "Her heart rate is spiking! If she panics, she’s going to code again!"
Gabriel looked at his daughter. Chloe’s eyes were open, wide with terror, her lips moving but no sound coming out as the roar of the assault surrounded them.
"Chloe," Gabriel said, reaching out to grab her hand. "Chloe, it's Dad. I'm here. Look at me."
"Dad," she whispered, her voice barely a thread. "The... the guy at the diner... he said you killed his family."
Gabriel’s chest seized. "He lied, baby. He lied to get to you."
"We have to move her," Sadie said, her clinical focus cutting through the panic. "This room is a target. The walls are thin."
"There’s a panic room behind the library," Gabriel said. "But we have to cross the main hall. Russo! Cover the door!"
Russo and two of his men appeared in the hallway, their weapons firing a continuous stream of fire into the stairs as they retreated.
"Move! Now!" Russo yelled.
Gabriel lifted Chloe once again, her body shivering against his chest. Sadie grabbed the portable oxygen cylinder and the IV stand, keeping her pace aligned with Gabriel’s as they sprinted through the dark, marble-lined hallways.
Bullets chased them like hornets, chipping the plaster from the walls and shattering the expensive oil paintings of Gabriel’s ancestors.
They reached the library.
Gabriel pressed his palm against a hidden scanner behind a row of leather-bound encyclopedias. The heavy stone fireplace groaned, sliding back on its tracks to reveal a small, steel-lined room equipped with its own communications console and medical supply chest.
"Get inside," Gabriel said, shoving Sadie and Chloe through the opening.
"Aren't you coming?" Sadie asked, her hand wrapping around his sleeve.
"I have to end this, Sadie," Gabriel said, his eyes dark with a final, terminal resolve. "They came for my daughter. They came to my home. If I don't go out there, they will burn this house down with you inside it."
He gently pried her fingers off his sweater. He looked at Chloe, who was staring at him from the floor of the panic room, tears streaming down her pale cheeks.
"I love you, Chloe," he said softly.
May you like
He hit the manual close button.
The heavy steel door slid shut, locking them in a silent, fluorescent-lit sanctuary, while the sound of the war raged on the other side of the stone.
