Chapter 5 - The Breach
The deafening sound of the explosion rattled the concrete walls of the secure bedroom.
My father grabbed my arm and pulled me aggressively to the floor just as the windows shattered.
Gunfire erupted outside as the private security contractors engaged the cartel hitmen in the courtyard.
The FBI agent guarding our door fired his weapon down the hallway before being forced to retreat into our room.
He yelled that there were at least a dozen heavily armed men storming the ground floor of the safehouse.
My father pulled a compact pistol from his ankle holster and checked the magazine with practiced military precision.
He told me to stay completely behind him and not to make a single sound.
We could hear the heavy boots of the attackers marching up the wooden staircase.
They were systematically checking every single room, executing anyone who stood in their way.
The FBI agent ordered us to move toward the hidden escape hatch located inside the master closet.
We crawled across the floor, avoiding the incoming bullets that ripped through the drywall above our heads.
I pulled the heavy rug aside and opened the steel trapdoor leading down into the emergency maintenance tunnels.
I climbed down the metal ladder first, my hands shaking violently in the cold darkness.
My father followed closely behind me, but the FBI agent stayed at the top to provide covering fire.
I heard the bedroom door get kicked open, followed by a terrifying burst of automatic gunfire.
The agent's body hit the floor, and the trapdoor was suddenly illuminated by the flashlights of the killers.
My father aimed his pistol upward and fired three rapid shots, forcing the hitmen to pull back from the opening.
He slammed the steel hatch shut and engaged the heavy deadbolt from the inside.
We ran blindly through the narrow, damp tunnels beneath the mountain estate.
I could hear the hitmen using heavy tools to try and break through the steel trapdoor behind us.
We finally reached the end of the tunnel and emerged into a dense, heavily wooded forest.
A backup security vehicle was waiting for us, hidden beneath a camouflage tarp near the dirt road.
My father shoved me into the passenger seat and started the engine with a roar.
We sped away down the mountain road, barely escaping the brutal massacre at the safehouse.
I opened my laptop to check my emergency funds so we could disappear completely off the grid.
I logged into my secure banking portal, but my heart stopped completely when I saw the screen.
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Julian had used his administrative access to freeze every single one of my personal and professional bank accounts.
I was completely cut off from all my resources, and the cartel was still actively hunting me down.
