Chapter 1 - The Lockdown
The mansion erupted into organized chaos.
Men in tactical gear flooded the second floor, their heavy boots thudding against the marble. Silas, Damian’s second-in-command and the only man allowed to carry a loaded weapon in the inner sanctum, found his boss gasping on the rug, a spent EpiPen resting near his leg. Beside the door, a terrified four-year-old girl was clutching a stuffed rabbit.
"Get the medic!" Silas roared, dropping to his knees. He pressed two fingers to Damian’s throat. The pulse was weak, a frantic, fluttering bird, but it was there.
Within seconds, Dr. Aris, the syndicate’s underground physician who lived in the guest house for emergencies just like this, was rushing into the room with a medical bag. He administered a secondary dose of epinephrine, steroids, and antihistamines.
Down the hall, Sarah Walsh was sprinting. She had heard her daughter’s scream. When she reached the corridor, two massive guards blocked her path, their hands resting on their holstered weapons.
"Let me through!" Sarah cried, her voice cracking. "That's my daughter! Lily!"
Silas stepped out of the study, his face a mask of cold fury. He looked at the trembling maid, then at the little girl who was currently being scooped up by one of the perimeter guards.
"Your daughter?" Silas asked, his voice low and dangerous.
"Yes," Sarah sobbed, reaching out as the guard set Lily down. Lily immediately ran into her mother's arms, burying her face in Sarah's apron.
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"Your daughter," Silas repeated, his eyes narrowing, "just saved the boss's life. But someone in this house tried to take it. Lock down the estate. No one leaves. No one makes a phone call. If a mouse tries to cross the perimeter, shoot it."
Sarah held Lily tight against her chest, her heart hammering against her ribs. She had taken this job—cleaning the massive, terrifying Cross estate—because she was hiding from a violent past, and she needed the medical insurance for Lily's severe allergies. Now, they were trapped inside a fortress with a killer.
