Chapter 2 - The Breach
The red emergency lights began flashing in the hallway outside my office.
Lily covered her ears and buried her face in her mother’s skirt.
Allie looked at me with eyes completely devoid of hope.
She whispered that they had finally found her.
I did not ask who they were.
I grabbed my pistol from beneath the sofa cushion and chambered a round.
I grabbed Allie by the arm and pulled her toward the hidden panel behind my bookcase.
I pushed the heavy wood aside and shoved her and the child into the reinforced panic room.
I told her not to open the steel door for anyone but me.
The heavy steel door locked with a solid, echoing click.
I stepped back into the hallway just as the sound of shattered glass echoed from the grand staircase.
Gunfire erupted in the foyer.
I moved silently down the corridor, keeping to the shadows.
I peeked over the marble banister and saw three of my best guards lying dead on the imported tiles.
Five men dressed in tactical black gear were moving methodically through the first floor.
They were moving too quietly to be common street thugs.
These were professional cartel assassins.
I raised my weapon and fired two rapid shots.
The lead assassin dropped to the floor with a bullet perfectly centered in his skull.
The other four immediately scrambled for cover and returned heavy suppressive fire.
Marble chipped and flew past my face as I ducked behind a thick pillar.
The commander of the hit squad laughed from the darkness below.
He shouted that they had no interest in starting a war with the Moretti family tonight.
He told me to hand over the little girl, and they would leave my estate in peace.
I yelled back, asking why the Falco syndicate wanted a maid’s child.
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The commander chuckled darkly.
He said the child did not belong to a maid, she belonged to the throne.
