Chapter 4 - Blood in the WaterThe power outage plunged the massive estate into absolute darkness, save for the strobing crimson emergency lights casting eerie, pulsing shadows across the grand corridors.
Claire sprinted beside Dominic down the sweeping staircase, her breath coming in ragged gasps. The rain hammered against the reinforced glass windows like machine-gun fire, punctuated by the unmistakable, distant pop of a silenced gunshot echoing from the lower courtyard.
"Where are we going?" Claire shouted over the wailing alarms.
"The panic room beneath the library," Dominic said, sweeping his pistol around a dark corner before moving forward. "Ben and the security detail are holding the ground floor, but if they bypassed the main gates, they have inside codes."
Suddenly, the shadows ahead shifted.
Two men in tactical black gear, their faces obscured by night-vision goggles and balaclavas, stepped out from the hallway leading to the East Wing. Both held suppressed submachine guns leveled directly at Dominic and Claire.
Dominic shoved Claire behind him with one fluid motion, raising his Glock and firing twice with terrifying precision.
Bang! Bang!
The lead operative dropped instantly, a dark stain blooming across his tactical vest. The second operative dove to the side, returning fire. Plaster exploded from the mahogany wall inches from Claire’s head, showering her in white dust.
Dominic rolled behind a heavy marble pillar, firing blindly around the edge while counting his rounds.
"Claire, crawl!" Dominic barked, keeping his body positioned as a shield between her and the shooter.
Panic surged through Claire’s veins. Every survival instinct she had honed as a struggling single mother told her to curl into a ball, but the memory of little Emma waiting in the guest lodge snapped her mind into razor-sharp focus.
She spotted a heavy iron umbrella stand just two feet away. Without thinking, she lunged forward, grabbed the heavy wrought-iron container filled with walking sticks and golf clubs, and heaved it with all her might down the hallway toward the operative.
The heavy stand crashed into the operative’s shins, throwing him off balance just as he leaned out to take aim at Dominic.
That microsecond of hesitation was all Dominic needed.
He stepped out from behind the pillar and fired a single, decisive shot. The operative collapsed to the polished floor with a dull thud.
Silence fell over the corridor, broken only by the rhythmic pulsing of the red emergency lights and the storm raging outside.
Dominic exhaled sharply, stepping over the fallen intruder and pulling Claire back to her feet. His grip was tight, but his eyes were filled with a strange, fierce respect.
"Remind me never to play poker with you, Claire," Dominic muttered, scanning the dark hallway.
"Remind me never to accept a ride from a billionaire again," Claire snapped back, her knees shaking uncontrollably.
They reached the heavy oak double doors of the library. Dominic rushed to a bookshelf containing a massive set of leather-bound encyclopedias, pulled out a specific volume on maritime law, and twisted it to the left.
A heavy steel door set seamlessly into the oak paneling swung inward, revealing a well-lit subterranean bunker equipped with computer terminals, medical supplies, and secure communications arrays.
"Get inside," Dominic ordered.
As soon as Claire stepped across the threshold, Dominic followed, sealing the heavy steel vault door behind them with a deafening hydraulic lock.
Inside the safety of the panic room, the monitors displayed the security feeds from across the estate.
And what Claire saw on screen made her blood run cold.
The security feed showed Ben Carver standing by the main gates, casually lowering his weapon and shaking hands with a tall, silver-haired man in an expensive Italian suit who had just stepped out of an unmarked black SUV.
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Richard Vance.
Dominic stared at the monitor, his face draining of all color. The betrayal was complete. His head of security, his most trusted protector, was working hand-in-hand with the man who had murdered his wife and tried to poison his son.
