Chapter 15 - The Panic RoomI sprinted down the long, smoke-filled hallway toward the glass conservatory, my boots crunching on shattered glass and plaster dust. The ceiling overhead groaned under the weight of fire raging in the guest rooms above.
As I reached the reinforced steel door of the panic room, I punched the biometric override code into the keypad.
Bzzzt. Access Denied.
"Damn it!" I cursed, slamming my fist against the keypad. The power grid had been fried by an electromagnetic pulse charge.
Without power, the electronic lock was fused shut.
"Boss! Behind you!" Luca shouted, sprinting down the hall, firing his submachine gun backward at a fresh wave of mercenaries pouring in from the courtyard.
"Help me with the manual override lever!" I shouted, pointing to the emergency hydraulic hatch hidden beneath the floor tiling.
Together, Luca and I threw our entire weight against the heavy iron lever. Muscles straining, veins bulging in my neck, I channeled every ounce of fury, fear, and desperation into the pull. With a deafening screech of metal grinding against stone, the heavy steel hatch popped upward.
I threw the door open.
Inside the dimly lit concrete shelter, Nurse Sarah was huddled in the corner, shielding Isabella and little Emma with her own body.
Isabella’s eyes went wide when she saw me through the smoke.
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"Daddy!" she cried out, scrambling forward on her own two legs—moving faster and surer than she had three months ago—and threw herself into my arms.
"I've got you, baby," I whispered, lifting her up against my chest as Sarah and Emma scrambled out behind us. "We're safe. Nobody is ever touching you again."
