Chapter 4 - THE WHISPER IN THE BASEMENT"You talk too much, boy," Richard whispered, his face inches from Ethan's wide, panicked eyes. "And you lie like a third-rate recruit."
Before Ethan could choke out another excuse, a weak, muffled sound drifted up from the heavy oak door leading to the cellar beneath the stairs.
Thump. Thump.
"Dad?"
The voice was barely a breath, but it sliced through the mansion like a scalpel.
Richard dropped Ethan like a sack of garbage. The tech billionaire crumpled to the floor, gasping for air and clutching his bruised ribs. Richard didn't even glance back at him as he marched toward the cellar door. The brass deadbolt was locked tight from the outside, featuring a digital keypad lock that Ethan had undoubtedly installed to keep his prisoner contained.
Richard pulled a small override tool from his tactical kit, tapped into the keypad's emergency data port, and bypassed the circuit board in under three seconds.
May you like
Click.
He pulled the heavy door open, plunging down the dim concrete steps into the darkness below.
