Chapter 3 - The Panic Room
I stared at the intercom speaker in pure disbelief.
Dante was laughing from the hallway, mocking my complete loss of control.
I kicked the heavy pantry door with all my strength, but it was reinforced with steel.
I realized with horror that the young woman I had hired to clean my house had just kidnapped my children.
I reloaded my weapon, my hands shaking with a terrifying mixture of rage and panic.
I had to get down to the basement, but the main stairs were securely locked.
I remembered the old laundry chute hidden behind the decorative cabinets in the mudroom.
I sprinted across the kitchen, dodging a bullet that Dante fired wildly around the corner.
I ripped the cabinet doors open and threw myself headfirst down the narrow metal chute.
I slid rapidly through the absolute darkness, completely out of control.
I crashed hard onto the massive pile of linens in the basement laundry room.
I scrambled to my feet, raising my gun as I scanned the dark, cavernous space.
The basement was completely silent.
I moved quietly toward the heavy steel door of my hidden panic room at the end of the hall.
The biometric lock on the door was glowing a bright, steady green.
Someone had successfully bypassed my encrypted security system.
I pushed the heavy door open, pointing my gun directly into the fortified room.
Grace was sitting on the floor, holding all three of my crying daughters in a tight embrace.
She looked up at me, her eyes filled with a desperate, burning intensity.
She told me to lower my weapon before I got us all killed.
I kept the gun aimed directly at her forehead.
I demanded to know who she really was and how she got past my retinal scanners.
May you like
Grace slowly reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, bloody flash drive.
She told me that Isabelle gave her the master access codes the day before she was murdered.
