Chapter 4 - Trapped in the Luxury Cage
Julian’s hand shook so violently that the gun rattled. The news ticker was already framing Ethan—and Julian—as rogue operators executing a multi-million-dollar shakedown.
"He... he leaked the story already?" Julian gasped, realizing the narrative was locked before the night was even over.
"He built the cage, Julian. You and I are just the rats inside it," Ethan said quietly.
With a lightning-fast motion, Ethan stepped inside Julian’s guard, grabbed his wrist, twisted it upward, and disarmed him in a fraction of a second. The gun clattered to the floor. Ethan swept Julian's legs, pinning him to the carpet with a knee on his back, and retrieved the weapon, immediately ejecting the magazine to clear the chamber.
"Listen to me," Ethan whispered into Julian's ear. "Your father is wiping the board. When police SWAT teams breach this building, they aren't coming to negotiate. They're coming on a kill order for a 'terrorist threat.' We have less than twenty minutes before this floor gets breached."
Ethan pulled Julian to his feet by his collar. "Where does that service elevator in the back lead?"
"It... it goes down to the maintenance sub-basement," Julian stammered, completely broken. "Below the vault."
"Then that's where we're going."
Ethan kicked open the server rack door in the corner of Suite 1404, exposing the central power junction. He pulled a small flare from his utility belt—standard issue for emergency field ops—struck it, and jammed it directly into the server cooling intake.
Within seconds, thick, white chemical smoke poured into the room, triggering the heavy fire-suppression sprinklers and blinding the surveillance cameras monitoring the room.
"Move!" Ethan shoved Julian toward the secret service hatch behind the server racks.
As they dropped into the dark, echoing shaft of the service elevator, heavy boots thundered down the hallway outside Suite 1404. Tactical operators smashed through the blast doors, automatic weapons raised.
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"Target cleared! Search the room!" a voice yelled from above.
Ethan and Julian slid down the emergency ladder, plunging deeper into the dark belly of the hotel—toward the real secret buried beneath the marble floors.
