Chapter 5 - THE SPIDER’S WEBI was three feet away from Marcus’s chair when my heel crunched down on a loose piece of gravel on the floor.
Crunch.
It sounded like a gunshot in the quiet bunker.
Marcus’s head snapped around. He ripped off his headset and stood up instantly, his hand dropping toward the holster at his hip.
“Who’s—”
I didn't hesitate. I swung the heavy metal wrench with all the fury of eight years of betrayal, aiming straight for the control panel on the main server rack beside him.
SMASH!
A shower of blue sparks exploded into the air as the main monitor bank blew out in a violent flash of light and smoke. The emergency lights flickered, plunged into red backup mode, and a deafening klaxon began to wail overhead.
“WARNING: SYSTEM BREACH. SECTOR SEVEN.”
Marcus cursed loudly, abandoning his post to lunge toward the master circuit breaker on the far wall.
It was all the opening I needed.
I dropped the wrench, scrambled over the metal desk, and threw myself at the vertical ladder behind the industrial curtain. My bare hands grabbed the cold iron rungs, and I hauled myself upward like my life depended on it—because it literally did.
Below me, Marcus roared in fury. “She’s at the chute! Sector Seven auxiliary ladder!”
Heavy boots slammed against the metal rungs below as Marcus began to climb after me.
I climbed faster, my muscles screaming, my palms burning against the rough iron. The shaft was narrow, dark, and smelled of rust and old grease. Above me, a tiny square of gray dawn light peeked through a heavy metal hatch at the top.
Come on, Lena. Move!
I reached the top just as Marcus’s hand grazed the heel of my left foot.
With a frantic lunge, I slammed my shoulder against the spring-loaded release latch of the hatch.
Clack.
The hatch popped open, and I tumbled headfirst out of the shaft, crashing hard onto the damp grass of the estate’s outer gardens just as the first rays of the morning sun broke over the jagged cliffs of the Pacific.
I rolled to my feet, gasping for air, rain misting my face.
I was outside. I was free of the house.
But as I looked up, freezing in my tracks, my heart plummeted straight into my stomach.
I wasn't outside the estate perimeter.
I was standing in the center of the Caldwell family private chapel courtyard. And standing thirty feet away, holding a crystal flute of champagne in her hand while dressed in an immaculate white Chanel suit, was Vivian.
May you like
She turned slowly, taking a sip of her champagne, and smiled as if she had been expecting me all along.
“Good morning, Lena,” Vivian said smoothly, her voice carrying easily over the sound of the crashing waves below. “Right on schedule for the rehearsal.”
