Chapter 4 - The Escape Hatch
The terrifying reality of Richard's words hung heavily in the warm air of the cabin.
He did not want to kill his children because they were an inconvenience; he wanted to kill them for money.
Their mother had secretly established a massive trust fund for Daniel and Emma, completely out of Richard's control.
If they both died before midnight, the entire fortune would legally default to their surviving father.
Elias stood perfectly still, his hunting rifle aimed squarely at Richard's chest.
“You won't get a single penny, Richard. Because if your men shoot me, I pull this trigger and you die first,” Elias warned fiercely.
Richard laughed softly, confident in his tactical advantage.
“Shoot him,” Richard ordered his mercenaries without a second thought.
Before the armed men could pull their triggers, Elias violently kicked the heavy iron fireplace grate.
A massive cloud of burning embers and thick, blinding ash exploded into the room.
The mercenaries cursed and stumbled backward, temporarily blinded and coughing aggressively.
Elias grabbed Daniel by the collar and shoved him toward a thick, woven rug in the center of the floor.
“Pull the brass ring! Go!” Elias shouted over the chaos.
Daniel ripped the rug aside, revealing a heavy wooden trapdoor built into the floorboards.
He grabbed the brass ring and hoisted the door open, shoving Emma down into the dark cellar.
He jumped in after her just as the deafening sound of automatic gunfire erupted in the cabin above.
Elias dove into the hole right behind them, slamming the heavy trapdoor shut and sliding an iron deadbolt into place.
Wood splinters rained down on them as the mercenaries blindly fired through the floorboards.
Elias switched on a small tactical flashlight and ushered them down a narrow, dirt tunnel smelling of damp earth.
“This tunnel leads to an old mining shaft half a mile away. Move fast, they will blow that trapdoor in minutes,” Elias instructed urgently.
They ran through the freezing darkness, the sound of the mercenaries desperately trying to breach the cellar fading behind them.
After a grueling, terrifying run, they reached a heavy steel door at the end of the tunnel.
Elias pushed it open, leading them out into a massive, cavernous abandoned mine illuminated by pale moonlight shining through cracks in the ceiling.
As they stepped into the cavern, a sharp, cold voice echoed off the stone walls.
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“I knew you would use the old smuggler's tunnel, Elias,” the voice mocked.
Vera stepped out from the shadows of the mine, aiming a silver revolver directly at Daniel's head.
