Chapter 4 - The Lockdown
Screams echoed across the estate as the security alarms began to blare.
Ricardo covered my body with his own, shielding me from the falling glass.
"Dante!" Ricardo roared over the chaotic noise.
Armed guards swarmed the greenhouse within seconds, forming a human shield around us.
I grabbed Leo and pulled him tightly against my chest.
The little boy was trembling, but he did not cry.
Ricardo hauled me to my feet and pushed us toward the main house.
"Get them to the underground bunker," Ricardo commanded his men.
We ran through the manicured lawn as a second bullet shattered a stone statue nearby.
We reached the basement, and Dante sealed the heavy steel doors behind us.
The bunker was a state-of-the-art safe room filled with monitors and weapons.
Ricardo paced the room like a caged animal, barking orders into a secure phone.
"The shot came from the eastern ridge," Dante reported, his face grim.
"They bypassed our perimeter sensors entirely."
Ricardo slammed his fist against a metal table.
"Nobody knows the blind spots in our security grid except my inner circle," he snarled.
I sat in the corner, holding Leo while trying to process the sheer terror of the moment.
I was a waitress twenty-four hours ago, and now I was dodging sniper fire.
"Someone on the inside betrayed us," Ricardo said, looking directly at Dante.
Dante nodded slowly, drawing his weapon and checking the magazine.
"I will find the rat and bleed him dry," Dante promised.
Suddenly, the security monitors on the wall flickered and went completely dark.
The emergency lights bathed the bunker in an eerie red glow.
"The main power was just cut," Dante whispered, stepping in front of the door.
A heavy, metallic thud echoed from the other side of the steel door.
Someone was trying to breach the safe room from the outside.
Then, a wet, choking sound came from the center of the room.
May you like
I turned around and screamed.
Dante dropped his gun and collapsed to his knees, a bloody knife protruding from his back.
