Chapter 3 - THE MIDNIGHT AMBUSH
The safehouse was located in the secluded hills of upstate New York, an hour's drive from the chaotic energy of Manhattan. It was a modern fortress of reinforced concrete and bulletproof glass, bought by Andrew under a shell corporation three years ago.
By 10:00 PM, Penny was fast asleep in one of the upstairs bedrooms, clutching the cheap toy from her Freddy’s meal. Andrew stood by the floor-to-ceiling windows of the living room, a glass of untouched scotch in his hand.
He couldn't stop looking at her.
He was a father. The word felt foreign, heavy, and terrifying. All his life, he had believed he was destined to be alone, a solitary king in a castle of cold hard cash. Now, a three-year-old girl with scraped knees and messy pigtails had shattered his entire reality.
"She has your eyes," Marcus said, stepping into the room. He was holding a tactical tablet displaying the security cameras around the perimeter.
"She shouldn't be here, Marcus," Andrew said quietly. "She should be with her mother. She should be having a normal childhood, not hiding from mercenaries in a billionaire's bunker."
"We're doing a full sweep of the area," Marcus said, ignoring the lament. "But we have a problem. The hospital where Rebecca Chen is being kept just reported a security breach. A fake doctor tried to access her ICU room. Fortunately, my guys on site intercepted him, but we had to relocate her. She's currently in transit to a private medical clinic we control."
Suddenly, the lights in the safehouse flickered.
Once. Twice.
Then, complete darkness.
The backup generators, which should have kicked in within three seconds, remained silent.
"We’ve got a breach," Marcus barked, pulling his sidearm. "The main power grid was cut from the outside. They bypassed our digital security. They have an insider, Andrew."
"Get Penny," Andrew ordered, setting his glass down. His pulse spiked, his chest tightening—a symptom of his heart condition under extreme stress. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his beta-blocker medication, swallowing a pill dry. "Now!"
Before Marcus could move toward the stairs, the sound of breaking glass shattered the silence of the ground floor.
Three figures clad in tactical gear, wearing night-vision goggles and holding silenced submachine guns, burst through the kitchen windows. They moved with military precision, clearing angles with lethal speed.
Marcus fired two rounds, dropping the lead attacker instantly. "Go! Upstairs! Get the kid!"
Andrew bolted up the stairs, his heart hammering against his ribs. The darkness was absolute, illuminated only by the brief flashes of gunfire from downstairs. He threw open the door to Penny’s room.
"Penny!" he whispered loudly.
The bed was empty.
Andrew’s heart skipped a beat. "Penny!"
"Daddy?" a tiny voice whispered from the closet.
Andrew rushed over and pulled the closet door open. Penny was curled up behind a pile of blankets, her eyes wide with terror. He scooped her into his arms, holding her tight.
"We have to play a game, Penny," he whispered in her ear. "We have to be as quiet as mice. Can you do that for me?"
She nodded, burying her face in his neck.
Andrew ran toward the back staircase, which led to the underground garage where his armored SUV was parked. As he reached the landing, a shadow stepped out from the hallway.
It was Detective Vance.
He wasn't wearing a uniform. He was in tactical gear, holding a pistol with a silencer.
"You should have let her go, Sterling," Vance said, his voice cold in the dark. "It would have been much easier. A tragic kidnapping. A grieving mother. You could have kept your company, your money, your life."
"Who is paying you, Vance?" Andrew demanded, slowly backing up toward the garage door, keeping his body positioned to protect Penny.
"People who don't like loose ends," Vance said. "Your father's legacy was built on a lie. The gene therapy he funded? It wasn't just to cure your heart. It was a multi-billion-dollar bio-patent. And Penny's DNA is the key to unlocking it. The board of Sterling Investments wants that patent, Andrew. They don't want a child inheriting the controlling shares of the company."
The board.
The very people Andrew worked with every day. His own executives were trying to kill him and his daughter to seize control of the patent.
"You won't get away with this," Andrew said.
"Who's going to stop me?" Vance sneered, raising his gun. "A billionaire with a failing heart?"
A sudden, deafening bang shook the hallway.
Marcus appeared from the darkness behind Vance, tackling him to the ground. The gun went off, the bullet splintering the wooden doorframe inches from Andrew's head.
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"Go, Andrew! Get her out of here!" Marcus roared, locking Vance in a chokehold.
Andrew didn't look back. He pushed through the heavy steel door into the garage, threw Penny into the back seat of the armored SUV, leaped into the driver’s seat, and slammed his foot on the gas. The heavy vehicle crashed through the closed garage doors, roaring out into the rainy, black night.
