Chapter 15 - THE BULLET AND THE BREACHBack inside the grand study, the sound of the gunshot echoed like thunder through the heavy oak doors.
My heart stopped. "Nathan!"
I bolted toward the door, but Marcus stepped directly into my path, his face grim and resolute. "Grace, stay back! Protocol dictates we secure the inner sanctum."
"Move out of my way, Marcus!" I screamed, shoving past him with a strength born of pure panic.
I sprinted down the grand staircase toward the foyer just as the heavy front doors flew open.
Nathan stumbled inward, breathing heavily, his coat torn slightly at the shoulder where a bullet had grazed the fabric. He slammed the heavy oak door shut behind him and threw the deadbolt locks into place.
"Nathan!" I cried out, rushing to him and grabbing his face with both hands, checking him frantically for blood. "Are you hurt? What happened?"
"I’m fine, I’m fine," Nathan panted, gripping my arms tightly to steady himself. His eyes were wide, burning with adrenaline. "They shot at the gatepost. It was a warning shot."
"We have to get out of here," I said urgently, my voice breaking. "If they have sniper positions around the estate, staying here is a death sentence."
"No," Nathan said, his voice instantly hardening back into the unyielding steel of a CEO facing a hostile takeover. "Running is what they want us to do. They want to panic us, break our defenses, and scatter us where they can pick us off one by one."
Marcus jogged down the stairs, holding a military-grade encrypted radio. "Mr. Cole, perimeter sensors just detected a secondary breach at the southern utility access tunnel. Someone is overriding the electrical grid from the inside."
Nathan’s jaw clenched so hard a muscle twitched in his cheek. "An inside job? That’s impossible. All staff were vetted by federal security."
"Not all of them," a quiet, trembling voice echoed from the end of the grand hallway.
We all whipped around. Standing in the shadows near the corridor leading to the staff quarters was Elena, the estate’s longtime head housekeeper, her hands clamped over her mouth, tears streaming down her face.
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"Elena?" I stepped forward cautiously. "What are you talking about?"
"I... I’m so sorry, Mr. Cole," Elena sobbed, collapsing onto her knees against the wall. "They have my grandson. Two men intercepted him after school this afternoon. They said... they said if I didn't override the southern biometric gate switch and disable the exterior security relays tonight, they would never let him come home."
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