Chapter 4 - The Breach at the Eastern Gate
The klaxon sounded like a wounded animal, echoing through the subterranean security grid and vibrating straight through the floorboards of the staff quarters.
Clara shoved the photograph back into her diary, slammed the suitcase shut, and pulled her wool coat back on over her shoulders.
She checked Mia, who stirred slightly at the noise but remained asleep, then rushed out into the hallway just as the mansion’s interior emergency lighting flickered from warm amber to a harsh, pulsating red.
Heavy boots pounded against the marble flooring of the main foyer as Arthur Vance, Adrien’s head of security, led four armed guards toward the eastern perimeter doors.
“Perimeter breach at gate four!” Arthur shouted into his tactical radio, his face grim as he unholstered his sidearm.
“Intruders bypassed the biometric scanner using an active level-one override code! Move, move, move!”
Clara hung back in the shadows of the service hallway, her breath coming in shallow gasps.
A level-one override code.
There were only two people in the entire world who possessed a level-one override code: Adrien Romano, and the elusive older brother whose ghost had just returned to haunt the house.
Moments later, Adrien strode out of his private study, wearing a dark tactical sweater over his black trousers, his hand resting securely on the grip of a customized Beretta pistol.
He didn't look like a grieving widower anymore.
He looked like a syndicate boss preparing for war.
“Arthur!” Adrien’s voice cut through the red-lit hallway like a whip.
“Status!”
“They’re inside the service courtyard, sir!” Arthur reported, jogging back toward the foyer.
“They didn't steal anything, they didn't trip the asset vaults... they dropped a package at the base of the eastern fountain and withdrew before our reaction team could close the gate.”
Adrien’s eyes narrowed.
“A package?”
“Yes, sir.”
Arthur held up a sealed, heavy-duty manila envelope covered in moisture from the falling snow outside.
Adrien didn't hesitate.
He snatched the envelope from Arthur’s hand, ripped open the reinforced paper with his bare fingers, and pulled out a single sheet of heavy cardstock along with a small, silver key.
Clara watched from the shadows as Adrien read the words printed on the paper.
The color drained from his face so fast it looked as though someone had struck him across the chest with a lead pipe.
“Sir?” Arthur asked cautiously, stepping forward.
“What does it say?”
Adrien didn't answer right away.
His hand trembled slightly—just a fraction of an inch—as he held the paper out so the overhead red light illuminated the text.
The key to your brother’s safe deposit box at the Manhattan Trust, Adrien. Come alone tonight at midnight, or the little girl in the servants' quarters learns what happened to her real father.
The hallway went completely, terrifyingly dead.
Clara felt the floor drop out from beneath her feet.
Her vision blurred, a suffocating wave of dizziness washing over her as the words echoed in her mind over and over again.
The little girl in the servants' quarters.
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They didn't just know Adrien was vulnerable.
They knew about Mia.
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