Chapter 5 - THREE MINUTES BEFORE THE MANSION EXPLODED
Dominic caught movement in his peripheral vision and snapped his aim toward her. "Stop right there, Reed! Hands where I can see them or—"
Before he could pull the trigger, I lunged forward with the terrifying speed of a trapped animal.
I didn't reach for my gun. Instead, I drove my shoulder straight into Dominic’s chest, slamming him backward against the wooden doorframe with bone-cracking force. The Glock roared, the deafening gunshot shattering the quiet of the night and tearing a hole through the ceiling plaster just inches from Noah’s head.
Noah woke up screaming, thrashing in terror as smoke filled the room.
Dominic grunted, the impact driving the wind from his lungs, but he managed to swing the butt of his pistol downward, striking me hard across the temple. Hot blood poured into my eye, blinding me momentarily, but adrenaline kept me locked onto his throat. I grabbed his wrist, twisting it with brutal, calculated force until a sickening snap echoed through the room.
The Glock clattered uselessly onto the Persian rug.
Dominic yelled in agony, stumbling backward out into the hallway, clutching his broken wrist. The two enforcers he had brought with him reached for their weapons, but before they could draw, the heavy security shutters across the hallway windows slammed shut automatically with a loud metallic crash, plunging the corridor into strobing emergency red lights.
Emma’s hand had hit the master lockdown button.
"Vincent!" Emma shouted over the wailing sirens of the estate's security system. She was already kneeling beside Noah, pulling the terrified, weeping boy into her arms and shielding him with her own body behind the heavy oak dresser. "He’s heading for the panic tunnel in the east wing! If he gets outside, he’ll trigger the perimeter explosives!"
I wiped the blood from my eyes, my vision clearing to reveal a world bathed in crimson emergency lights. I didn't hesitate. I snatched Dominic’s dropped Glock from the floor, checked the magazine with a practiced flick of my thumb, and sprinted out into the hallway.
Dominic was limping desperately toward the staircase, clutching his shattered wrist, blood dripping from his knuckles. He looked back over his shoulder, a manic, desperate grin twisting his features.
"You can't stop it, Vincent!" Dominic screamed as he rounded the corner toward the private elevator. "The federal contingency protocol is already active! This entire estate is wired to blow in three minutes!"
The crimson emergency strobes pulsed rhythmically against the mahogany walls as the estate’s automated countdown klaxon began to wail, a deafening, mechanical shriek echoing through every corridor of the mansion. Two minutes and forty seconds until total detonation. The betrayal cut deeper than any physical wound, but survival instinct and the desperate need to protect my son overrode every other emotion. I sprinted down the hallway, my boots pounding against the hardwood floors, tracking Dominic’s bloody footprints toward the private east-wing elevator.
As I rounded the corner, the elevator doors were already sliding shut, displaying a digital indicator dropping rapidly toward the underground subterranean bunker. The private elevator was locked behind a multi-layered biometric scanner that would take my security override at least thirty seconds to bypass—time I didn't have.
"Damn it!" I slammed my fist against the steel doors, the impact sending a shockwave up my arm.
"Vincent!"
I spun around. Emma was running down the hallway toward me, her bare feet hitting the floor in rapid succession, her face pale but fiercely determined. She wasn't alone; she had wrapped Noah safely in a heavy wool blanket and carried him securely in her arms despite his weight. The boy was sobbing hysterically, burying his face in her shoulder, clutching her shirt as the alarm sirens blared overhead.
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"What are you doing out here?" I yelled over the noise, rushing toward them. "You need to get to the perimeter fence! The entire estate is rigged!"
"The elevator is a dead end," Emma shouted back, her voice cutting through the panic with absolute authority. "Dominic locked down the primary subterranean escape routes from his terminal ten minutes ago! If you take that elevator, you walk straight into his crosshairs!"
