Chapter 4 - THE SIEGE OF THE ESTATE
The heavy oak doors of the library slammed open. Two more operatives rushed into the room, their weapons raised.
Sarah rolled behind the heavy mahogany desk as bullets tore through the leather armchairs and books. She returned fire, her shots keeping the men at bay while she reached for the main security console under the desk edge.
She pressed Evelyn’s stolen smartwatch against the biometric reader.
A sharp chime echoed through the house: OVERRIDE ACCEPTED. EMERGENCY PERIMETER PROTOCOLS ENGAGED.
Outside the estate, heavy steel security shutters began descending over every window and doorway on the lower floor, sealing the entire residence into an impenetrable iron box. The external radio jamming signal wavered as the estate’s secondary buried communications array kicked online.
On the upper gallery, Andrew heard the chime. He smiled, using the temporary confusion of the mercenaries to flank the remaining operative, taking him out with a heavy strike to the jaw.
With the upper corridor clear, Andrew sprinted back to the master suite. He punched the code into the panic room door. The heavy steel door slid open, revealing Leo and the two girls holding tight to each other.
"Daddy!" the youngest girl, Maya, cried out.
"It's okay, babies," Andrew said, lifting Maya and taking Leo by the hand. "Mom cleared the path. We’re getting out."
"Is Mom okay?" Leo asked, his eyes brave despite his tears.
"Your mom is an iron wall," Andrew said proudly. "Now come on!"
Andrew led the children down the hidden service stairs, emerging into the main kitchen pantry. Sarah was waiting for them, her gun held low, her eyes scanning the dark kitchen.
The moment the children saw her, they ran into her arms. Sarah fell to her knees, kissing their faces, wiping away their tears with her soot-stained hands.
"We have to move," Sarah said, looking up at Andrew. "The internal shutters locked the mercenaries inside the grand foyer, but the command unit outside will try to breach the basement garage."
"The underground utility tunnel," Andrew realized instantly. "It leads out to the old boathouse near the lake!"
"Exactly," Sarah said, standing up.
Suddenly, a heavy explosion rocked the foundation of the house. The incendiary device inside the iron fireplace had detonated. Though contained by the heavy stone hearth, the pressure blew out the library’s internal wall, sending a wave of smoke pouring into the hallways.
The emergency alarms began to blare, red warning lights flashing across the ceiling.
From the smoke-filled hallway, Evelyn came stumbling out, her clothes burned at the edges, coughing violently. "Andrew! Take me with you! Please!"
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Andrew looked at Evelyn, his expression colder than stone. "You helped them put my wife in a cage for three years, Evelyn. You don't get to ride in our escape boat."
"Andrew! No!" Evelyn screamed as Andrew locked the heavy iron door of the basement utility tunnel, sealing her on the other side with the smoke and her approaching syndicate handlers.
