Chapter 5 - The Infiltration
Leaving the safety of the logging camp, Silas plunged back into the blizzard.
He didn't walk back toward the main gates. He knew the Blackwood estate better than the men who owned it. For twelve years, he had maintained the underground steam tunnels that connected the estate's greenhouses to the main manor.
By 5:00 a.m., Silas pried open a rusted iron grate hidden beneath a snowdrift near the botanical gardens. He dropped down into the dark, sweltering heat of the maintenance tunnels.
He moved silently, a shadow in the subterranean maze. His hunting rifle was slung across his back, and a heavy iron crowbar gripped tightly in his hands.
He reached the access door beneath the east wing. It was locked with a heavy electronic keypad.
Silas didn't try to guess the code. He smashed the control panel with the crowbar, exposing the wiring, and used his knife to short-circuit the magnetic lock. The heavy steel door hissed open.
He stepped into a sterile, concrete hallway that looked more like a prison than a billionaire's basement.
At the end of the hall stood a single, reinforced steel door. Two armed guards were sitting at a folding table, drinking coffee and playing cards.
Silas didn't hesitate. He stepped out of the shadows, raising the heavy crowbar.
Before the guards could even reach for their holsters, Silas closed the distance. He struck the first guard across the jaw, sending him crashing to the floor unconscious. The second guard lunged forward, drawing a combat knife. Silas sidestepped the blade, grabbed the man's arm, and drove his knee into the guard's ribs, following up with a brutal strike to the back of the neck.
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The hallway was quiet again.
Silas grabbed the keycard from the unconscious guard’s belt and swiped it against the reader on the steel door.
