Chapter 6 - The Blood Feud
"They are already inside the house," I whispered, pulling Emily and Noah into a hidden alcove.
Dozens of heavily armed Russian mercenaries poured out of the main stairwell, sweeping the area with tactical flashlights.
We were completely outgunned, trapped on the second floor of my own impenetrable fortress.
"There is an old dumbwaiter shaft inside the master suite that drops directly to the laundry room," Emily whispered into my ear.
I nodded silently, marveling once again at how perfectly this maid knew the exact layout of my home.
We crept silently through the shadows, avoiding the sweeping beams of the hostile flashlights.
We slipped into the master bedroom and locked the heavy mahogany doors quietly behind us.
Emily immediately rushed to the wall and ripped the wooden paneling away to reveal the hidden shaft.
She carefully lowered Noah into the small wooden box, wrapping him securely in a thick down blanket.
"You go first, I will hold the rope and lower you down," I instructed her firmly.
Emily shook her head, her dark eyes flashing with fierce, undeniable determination.
"I am lighter, I will lower you and the baby, then I will climb down the cables," she argued.
Gunfire suddenly erupted against the bedroom door, tearing massive splinters of wood into the room.
There was absolutely no time left to argue about bravery.
I squeezed my broad shoulders into the cramped dumbwaiter shaft, holding my son tightly to my chest.
Emily grabbed the heavy pulley ropes with her bare hands and began lowering us rapidly into the darkness.
I watched her face disappear into the shadows above as the Russian soldiers finally breached the bedroom.
I heard a brief, violent struggle above me, followed by the terrifying sound of a body hitting the floor.
The ropes suddenly slipped violently, and the wooden box plummeted freely into the pitch-black abyss.
I braced for a fatal impact, curling my body entirely around Noah to absorb the crushing blow.
The box slammed violently into the bottom of the shaft, splintering into dozens of sharp pieces.
I gasped in pain as a jagged piece of wood pierced deeply into my left thigh.
Despite the agonizing pain, I quickly checked Noah, who was miraculously unharmed and sleeping peacefully.
May you like
I looked up the long, dark shaft, praying to see Emily climbing down to join us.
Instead, a small, ticking explosive device dropped directly down the shaft toward my face.
