Chapter 4 - I fired first.The bullet struck the wall inches from his head.
He ducked.
Claire pulled Lily behind the steel door.
Sophie screamed.
I fired again.
The man disappeared around the corner.
I moved after him.
“Stay here.”
Claire grabbed my arm.
“No.”
“I'm getting him.”
“He wants you to chase him.”
That stopped me.
She was right.
The gunshots had been too controlled.
Too deliberate.
A distraction.
I returned to the control room.
The monitors had come back online.
Every camera showed the same thing.
An empty corridor.
No shooter.
No Marco.
Then the front gate opened.
Three black vehicles rolled into the property.
I recognized the first.
My mother’s armored SUV.
“She’s here.”
Sophie stared at me.
“Grandma?”
I nodded.
Then Lily whispered:
“She came for me.”
We barricaded the control room.
I called my mother.
She answered on the first ring.
“Adrian.”
Her voice was calm.
“Mom, where are you?”
“At your house.”
“Why?”
“You need to bring the girls upstairs.”
“Who are the men in the tunnel?”
A pause.
“What tunnel?”
I looked at Claire.
She mouthed one word.
“Lie.”
“Mom, I know about R-17.”
Silence.
Then my mother said something I had not heard in years.
“Your wife should have left it buried.”
She hung up.
Sophie stared at me.
“Dad…”
“Stay with Claire.”
I went through the service corridor.
I knew the mansion better than anyone.
There was an old dumbwaiter shaft connecting the basement to the library.
I used it to bypass the main staircase.
When I reached the library, I saw my mother standing alone.
She wore a dark coat.
No visible weapon.
Behind her were six white-shirted men.
Marco stood among them.
I pointed my gun.
“Tell them to drop theirs.”
My mother sighed.
“You never were good at listening.”
“Tell them.”
She looked at me.
“They aren't here to hurt you.”
“Then why are they armed?”
“To protect you.”
“From what?”
She smiled sadly.
“Your wife.”
I felt something cold settle in my chest.
“My wife is dead.”
“No.”
The word barely existed above a whisper.
“She isn't.”
Marco stepped forward.
“You should have listened to the recordings and left.”
I stared at him.
“Where is Elena?”
My mother answered.
“Close.”
“Where?”
She glanced toward the fireplace.
“Where she was waiting for you.”
The hidden door opened.
A woman stepped out.
Dark hair.
Pale face.
Thin scar above the eyebrow.
I stopped breathing.
She looked at me.
I knew those eyes.
Nobody could imitate them.
Nobody could replicate the way she tilted her head when she was afraid.
“Elena?”
She cried without moving.
“Adrian.”
Sophie appeared behind me.
Her mouth fell open.
“Mom?”
Elena looked at her.
Then Lily came running into the room.
For three years, Lily had never run toward anyone when people called her mother.
Now she screamed.
“Mom!”
Elena dropped to her knees.
Lily threw herself into her arms.
I stood frozen.
My mother watched us.
Marco lowered his weapon.
And then Elena whispered something only I could hear.
“Adrian, we have minutes.”
“Why?”
May you like
She looked over my shoulder.
“At 10:00, everyone in this house dies.”
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