Chapter 17 - Water and Iron
Marcus kicked Grace’s gun across the glass floor, while two armed guards seized Adrian, forcing him to his knees.
"Take the child to the helipad," Victoria ordered Marcus, pointing to baby Maya. "The storm is passing. The helicopter will be here in five minutes."
"What about them, ma'am?" Marcus asked, pointing at Adrian and Grace.
Victoria looked at her son with cold indifference. "My son loves water so much. He made such a fuss when his precious baby fell into the pool. Let them drown together."
Five minutes later, Grace and Adrian were dragged into the lowest level of the fortress—a reinforced glass vault constructed below the sea level, designed as an underwater observation room.
Marcus slammed the heavy airlock door shut from the outside. Through the thick glass window, they saw him pull a heavy mechanical lever.
A loud hydraulic valve opened above them. Heavy, freezing seawater began pouring into the room from high-pressure pipes, rushing over their feet.
"The room will fill completely in three minutes," Marcus’s voice echoed over the intercom. "Goodbye, Adrian."
The water rose with terrifying speed—to their knees, then their waists, then their chests. The freezing temperature made it hard to breathe.
Adrian gripped Grace’s wet hands tightly, the water reaching their shoulders.
"Grace..." Adrian choked out, looking into her eyes as the water rose to his neck. "If we don't make it out of here... I need you to know... You brought light back into my life when I was completely dead inside."
"We are not dying here, Adrian!" Grace yelled, swimming upward as the water reached the ceiling, leaving only a tiny six-inch air pocket at the top of the vault.
Grace pulled off her waterproof belt buckle. Concealed inside the metal buckle was a high-grade thermite strip used by covert breach teams.
She dived underwater, pressed the chemical strip directly against the glass airlock door's hinges, and ignited it with her tactical watch starter.
A blinding white underwater glare exploded! The thermite burned through the steel hinges at 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
May you like
CRACK!
The massive pressure of the water blew the damaged door inward with explosive force! The wall of water flooded into the hallway, throwing Grace and Adrian out of the vault and onto the hard stone corridor floor.
