Chapter 3 - The Hostage Banquet
Hundreds of crystal glasses shattered violently across the smooth marble floor.
The armed guards flinched and shielded their faces from the flying, razor-sharp debris.
Lucas did not waste a single fraction of a second during the sudden chaos.
He scooped Mia tightly into his strong arms and sprinted blindly toward the kitchen doors.
A hail of bullets destroyed the beautiful floral arrangements right behind his racing feet.
He kicked the heavy metal swinging doors open and dove into the industrial kitchen.
The cooking staff was already tied up and gagged in the corner of the room.
Lucas rushed past them and carried his crying daughter into the massive walk-in freezer.
He slammed the heavy insulated door shut and locked it securely from the inside.
The freezing air instantly cut through his expensive tuxedo and chilled him to the bone.
Mia clung to his neck, her tiny body violently shaking from both terror and the extreme cold.
"I will never let them hurt you, sweetheart," Lucas promised softly, kissing her forehead.
He heard the kitchen doors violently burst open outside the freezer.
Heavy boots stomped aggressively across the tile floor as the mercenaries searched for them.
"Find them and kill the child first!" Victor's cruel voice echoed loudly through the metal walls.
Lucas knew they could not stay hidden in the freezing temperature for more than a few minutes.
He desperately scanned the dark, icy room for any possible means of escape.
His eyes landed perfectly on the heavy metal grate covering the ventilation shaft near the ceiling.
He quickly grabbed a frozen leg of lamb and smashed it fiercely against the rusted screws.
The metal grate finally popped off and clattered loudly onto the icy floor.
He lifted Mia up and gently pushed her into the narrow, dark tunnel.
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Just as Lucas grabbed the ledge to pull himself up, the freezer door handle violently rattled.
Sparks flew wildly as a heavy blowtorch began melting through the solid steel lock.
