Chapter 10 - Breaching the Gates
Sebastian slammed the receiver down and moved toward the security console set into the back wall of the study, punching in a master override code that brought up a dozen live camera feeds across the expansive Rinaldi estate.
On monitor four, the heavy wrought-iron security gates at the end of the long private drive were twisted sideways, crushed by a heavy black SUV that had rammed through them like a battering ram. Three more vehicles poured through the breach, disgorging armed men in dark tactical gear who were moving fast across the manicured lawns toward the main house.
“They're hitting the perimeter,” Sebastian said coldly, his hand immediately sliding under the edge of the desk to unlock a hidden compartment containing a heavy automatic weapon and spare magazines.
Maggie stepped back, her breath catching in her throat as she watched the figures swarm across the dark lawn on the screen. “Malcolm's men... they're attacking the house?”
“He thinks if he eliminates the leadership tonight, the municipal inquiry dies with us,” Sebastian said, his movements calm, precise, and terrifyingly efficient as he checked the slide of his firearm. He turned to Maggie, his eyes burning with absolute urgency. “Get down to the basement vault. There is a panic room behind the back row of shelving with an independent satellite phone and an escape tunnel leading to the river road. Use it.”
“And you?” Maggie asked, not moving an inch from her spot.
“I am going to remind Malcolm's men why no one crosses my threshold,” Sebastian said, handing her a heavy brass key ring. “Go, Maggie. Now.”
Instead of running toward the basement, Maggie reached into her bag, pulled out her heavy iron-bound archive stapler, and placed it firmly on the desk. “I've spent the last forty-eight hours proving that I don't hide behind you, Sebastian. I am not starting tonight.”
Sebastian stared at her for a fraction of a second, a dark, fierce pride flashing in his eyes before he nodded once. “Stay behind me. No exceptions.”
Heavy glass shatters echoed from the front foyer downstairs as the first reinforced window gave way under the weight of a crowbar. Footsteps thudded against the hardwood floors of the grand hallway, coming closer to the study with every passing second. Sebastian positioned himself beside the heavy oak door of the study, raising his weapon just as the brass handle began to turn.
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The door swung inward with a violent crash, and the first tactical operative stepped across the threshold, raising a suppressed submachine gun into the dimly lit room.
Sebastian fired twice with disciplined precision, the silenced shots sounding like heavy thuds in the confined space, and the intruder dropped instantly to the floor. Two more men surged forward through the doorway, trapping them in a desperate, close-quarters firefight that shook the walls of the ancestral home.
