Chapter 5: Into the Dark
The wine cellar was cold, smelling of oak and damp earth. Hayes moved point, a heavy flashlight in one hand and a suppressed sidearm in the other.
Marcus punched a code into a hidden panel behind a rack of vintage Bordeaux. The heavy stone wall clicked, hissing as pressurized air released, and swung open to reveal the dark, concrete expanse of the fiber-optic tunnel.
"Stay close, Mr. Vale," Hayes whispered, stepping into the gloom.
They had only walked fifty yards into the tunnel when the ground above them vibrated. A muffled, concussive THUD echoed down the concrete shaft.
Marcus froze, holding Lily tighter. She buried her face in his neck, whimpering softly.
"What was that?" Marcus asked, his heart hammering against his ribs.
"Breaching charge," Hayes said grimly, quickening his pace. "They didn't wait for nightfall. They blew the front doors."
Back in the mansion, all hell had broken loose.
Through his phone, Marcus accessed the house's internal security feeds. He watched in horror as a dozen men dressed in black tactical gear poured into his immaculate foyer. They moved with terrifying precision, carrying assault rifles. They weren't street thugs; they were highly trained mercenaries.
Miller had triggered the lockdown. Heavy steel shutters slammed down over the windows. The smart-lights in the house strobed violently, designed to disorient intruders, while a deafening, high-pitched alarm pierced the air.
They’re going room to room, Marcus thought, watching the feed as men kicked in the doors to Lily’s playroom and his study. They're looking for the drive. And they're looking for us.
"Keep moving," Hayes urged, his flashlight cutting through the dust of the tunnel.
The three-block walk felt like an eternity. Every vibration from the street above made Marcus flinch. He kept thinking of Cassandra. She had lived in his house. She knew his routines. Did she know about the tunnel? Had she seen the blueprints?
Finally, Hayes stopped at a heavy iron ladder leading up to a manhole cover.
"I'll go first," Hayes said. He slung his weapon, climbed the rungs, and pushed heavily against the iron cover. It screeched in protest before sliding aside, letting in the dim, gray light of a cloudy afternoon.
They emerged into a desolate, abandoned alleyway in the city's industrial district. True to his plan, Marcus had an unmarked, armored black sedan parked in a rented, nondescript garage just a few yards away. It was a contingency plan he had set up years ago after a series of corporate death threats. He never thought he would actually need it.
As they piled into the car, Marcus buckled Lily into the back seat. She was completely silent, her eyes wide with shock.
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"Where to, boss?" Hayes asked, jumping into the driver's seat and firing up the engine.
"Head north," Marcus said, pulling out his laptop and the encrypted USB drive. "Get us out of the city. I need to see what my wife died for."
