Chapter 6 - The Unseen Enemy
I stood up instantly, my instincts as a corporate leader and protector flaring back to life. "Stay here," I whispered to Claire and my mother, stepping quickly out of the parlor and into the high-tech security foyer.
The main wall monitors displayed the live feeds from the perimeter cameras, the front gates, and the underground parking garage. Everything looked clear—except for one secondary monitor wired to the private access road behind the estate.
A sleek, unmarked black van was idling near the woods just beyond the automated security fence.
As I watched, the side door of the van slid open, and two figures clad in tactical black gear stepped out, holding encrypted long-range scanners. They weren't police officers or federal agents. They were professional operatives.
Marcus’s parting words echoed chillingly in my mind: You think I worked alone? There are others!
I reached for the master console to trigger the perimeter alarm and notify the federal team stationed in the city, but the console screen suddenly flickered, flashed a violent neon red, and went completely black.
System override.
A synthetic, digitized voice echoed from the estate's internal intercom speakers: "Mr. Carter. We apologize for interrupting your family reunion. Please step away from the security console and open the front doors. Otherwise, the gas charges rigged around your property perimeter will activate within sixty seconds."
My blood turned to ice. They had hacked my smart-home network. They had infiltrated the estate's core infrastructure.
"Ethan?" Claire called out from the parlor doorway, her face pale with renewed terror as she clutched a blanket from the crib. "What's happening? Who was that on the speakers?"
"Get my mother and the twins into the basement panic room right now!" I ordered, my voice urgent and commanding as I grabbed a heavy iron fireplace poker from the hallway stand. "Move, Claire! Don't look back!"
"What about you?" she cried, her eyes wide with fear.
"I'm going to buy you time," I said, my jaw set with grim determination. "Go!"
Without another word, Claire rushed back into the parlor, helping my mother lift the twin infant carriers as they sprinted toward the hidden reinforced vault door disguised behind the mahogany bookshelves.
I turned back toward the grand foyer just as the massive front oak doors shuddered under the impact of a heavy hydraulic breaching ram.
May you like
Wood splintered. Iron hinges shrieked.
The heavy doors flew inward, crashing against the marble floor. Through the swirling dust, three heavily armed operatives stepped into my home, their assault rifles raised, their faces concealed behind matte-black tactical helmets.
