Chapter 3 - The Vanguard Vault
"Cut the power to the estate," Julian snarled, snapping his fingers at the security guards. "No one leaves this house. Collect the recorders."
Before the guards could move, Hannah swung the heavy sledgehammer in a wide, sweeping arc, smashing a massive nineteenth-century antique grandfather clock against the wall. The heavy oak casing splintered, crashing down across the hallway threshold and blocking the narrow passage to the front doors.
"Run!" Hannah yelled, grabbing Leo’s hand.
Arthur didn't hesitate. He lunged at his brother, driving his fist straight into Julian’s jaw with the force of three years of accumulated grief and fury. Julian stumbled backward, crashing into a mahogany side table and sending porcelain vases shattering across the floor.
"Get them!" Victoria screamed, scrambling away from the wreckage.
Arthur grabbed Hannah and Leo, pulling them toward the grand spiral staircase leading to the third-floor servant quarters. "Through the old service tunnel," Arthur panted. "It leads to the carriage house down the hill. They haven't updated those locks in decades."
As they sprinted up the steps, the heavy thud of boots followed close behind. The security guards were moving fast, cutting off the main corridors.
They burst into the dusty archives room at the top of the mansion. Arthur slammed the heavy oak door shut, throwing the rusted iron deadbolt just as a heavy shoulder slammed against the exterior wood. The door groaned, the frame splintering around the lock.
"Here!" Hannah shouted, pulling aside a heavy velvet tapestry that covered a recessed alcove in the wall. Behind it was a narrow iron service ladder descending into absolute blackness.
"Go, Leo! Down the ladder!" Arthur commanded, boosting his son into the opening.
Leo scrambled down the rungs with surprising agility, his survival instincts kicking in. Hannah followed closely behind, leaving Arthur to hold the door against the relentless assault from the other side.
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With a deafening crack, the door gave way. Julian’s lead security guard burst into the room, lunging forward. Arthur caught him with a brutal kick to the chest, sending the man tumbling backward down the open staircase.
Arthur didn't wait to see where he landed. He dove through the tapestry, pulling the iron hatch shut above him and locking it with a master key he kept on his keychain.
