Chapter 17 - The Trap is Sprung
Adrian didn't wait for them to knock. He moved down the grand staircase with the silent, fluid grace of a trained hunter, bypassing the main foyer and slipping out through the side service exit near the kitchen. Maria was already waiting by the pantry door, her tactical vest strapped on over her simple gray uniform, a Glock held steady in her right hand.
“Perimeter sensors tripped at sector four,” Maria whispered without looking back. “One intruder, moving slow. Testing the gate overrides.”
“They didn't learn from Viktor,” Adrian murmured, stepping out into the damp, freezing fog. “Let’s teach them.”
They moved in tandem—two shadows melting seamlessly into the dense boxwood hedges that lined the gravel drive.
Ahead of them, near the electronic gate control box, a figure in a heavy waterproof cloak crouched in the mud, a laptop plugged directly into the gate’s maintenance port lines. Sparks flickered from the terminal as lines of code bypassed the encryption grid.
“Got you,” Adrian muttered, closing the distance.
He stepped out from behind the oak trees, raising his Sig Sauer until the red dot of the laser settled squarely between the intruder's shoulder blades.
May you like
“Step away from the terminal with your hands where I can see them,” Adrian commanded, his voice cutting through the mist like a razor.
The figure froze, slowly raised their hands, and stood up from the mud.
