Chapter 4 - The Tunnels of Blood
Luca instinctively tackled Elena to the wooden floor.
He reached out and dragged a screaming Mia under the heavy iron frame of the bed.
Another bullet tore through the thin walls, shredding the mattress above them.
Luca pulled his sidearm and shot out the single overhead lightbulb.
The carriage house plunged into absolute, protective darkness.
He knew the sniper was using thermal imaging to track their body heat.
He grabbed a heavy wool blanket and threw it over the three of them.
Luca whispered for Elena to follow him toward the hidden trapdoor beneath the floorboards.
His father had built emergency smuggling tunnels under the entire property decades ago.
Luca pried the rusted iron ring upward and pushed Elena and Mia down into the damp earth.
He climbed down after them and sealed the heavy door just as the carriage house was breached by armed men.
The tunnel was pitch black and smelled heavily of mold and seawater.
They crawled through the cramped space for nearly twenty minutes in agonizing silence.
The tunnel eventually opened into a fortified safe room located beneath the main wine cellar.
Luca punched in his biometric code, and the heavy steel door hissed open.
He reached for the wall switch and flooded the bunker with bright, sterile light.
Elena let out a piercing, terrified scream.
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Luca's entire personal security team was lying dead on the concrete floor.
Standing in the center of the bloody room was Marco, holding a suppressed submachine gun.
