Chapter 4 - The Shadows Approach
The armored vehicles tore across the pristine grass and stopped near the front entrance.
Dozens of armed men poured out of the trucks wearing tactical gear and black masks.
Daniel pushed his sister into the hidden crawlspace beneath the floorboards.
He promised her that he would return as soon as the threat was neutralized.
I ordered Annie to follow me toward the panic room located in the basement.
She stopped in the middle of the hallway and shook her head firmly.
She warned me that the panic room ran on the same compromised network.
The intruders would easily override the titanium doors and trap us inside like rats.
I asked her if she had a better plan to keep us alive.
She grabbed a heavy fire axe from the emergency glass case on the wall.
She told us that the old utility tunnels beneath the house were completely off the grid.
We sprinted toward the kitchen to access the hidden service elevator shaft.
The sound of shattering glass echoed through the house as the men breached the foyer.
We pried the elevator doors open and climbed down the greasy metal cables.
Annie moved with surprising agility despite her lack of formal combat training.
We reached the bottom of the shaft and dropped into the dark utility tunnels.
The air was thick with dust and smelled strongly of damp earth.
We navigated the winding corridors using only the faint glow of Annie's smartphone.
Daniel kept his weapon raised and checked every blind corner before we proceeded.
We suddenly heard heavy footsteps echoing from the tunnel directly ahead of us.
We pressed our backs against the cold brick wall and held our breath entirely.
A group of five mercenaries walked past our position sweeping the area with flashlights.
One of the men stopped directly in front of the alcove where we were hiding.
He shined his bright light across the brick wall missing us by mere inches.
He tapped his radio and reported that the basement was completely clear.
The voice that responded over the radio made my blood run completely cold.
It was the unmistakable aristocratic drawl of my supposedly dead father.
Arthur Graves had perished in a private plane crash more than five years ago.
The mercenary acknowledged the order and addressed my father by his full name.
Annie gasped loudly enough for the sound to bounce off the brick ceiling.
May you like
The mercenary spun around and aimed his flashlight directly into our faces.
He raised his assault rifle and yelled for us to surrender immediately.
