Chapter 8: The Shot Across the Lake
A sharp red laser beam danced across the cabin wall.
Marcus reacted instantly.
"Get down!"
He lunged toward Eleanor just as the cabin window exploded inward.
Bang!
The rifle shot shattered the glass, sending splinters flying across the room. The bullet buried itself in the wooden wall where Eleanor had been standing only a second earlier.
Marcus pulled her behind the heavy stone fireplace.
"Stay down!"
Another shot rang out.
The lantern hanging from the ceiling swung wildly before crashing to the floor. Darkness swallowed the room, broken only by flashes of lightning outside.
Eleanor's heart pounded.
"They found us."
Marcus nodded grimly.
"I underestimated them."
He carefully peeked over the fireplace.
Across the lake, nearly three hundred yards away, he spotted a faint muzzle flash hidden among the trees.
Professional.
The shooter had chosen high ground with a clear line of sight to the cabin.
"They're trying to force us outside," Marcus whispered.
"Why?"
"Because that's where they have the advantage."
Miles away, Detective Daniel Carter was still studying the gold cufflink Lily had found beneath the staircase.
The engraved initials—M.H.—matched Marcus Hale's name.
Yet something didn't sit right.
He turned the cufflink over once more.
On its side was a tiny symbol he hadn't noticed before.
A hawk.
Not engraved.
Embossed.
Officer Ramirez stepped into the room.
"Detective, the fingerprint report came back."
"Anything useful?"
"The cufflink has only one clear print."
Marcus?
Ramirez shook his head.
"No."
Carter looked up.
"It's James."
"The butler?"
Ramirez nodded.
"He handled it recently."
Detective Carter frowned.
"That doesn't make sense."
Unless...
James had picked it up after the attack.
Or...
Someone had deliberately planted it.
Back at the cabin, silence settled after the second gunshot.
Marcus checked his pistol.
Only eight rounds remained.
Eleanor noticed.
"You're expecting more?"
Marcus gave a humorless smile.
"If they're professionals, one sniper is only the beginning."
Almost on cue...
The distant growl of engines echoed through the forest.
Headlights appeared between the trees.
One.
Then another.
Then a third.
Three black SUVs rolled down the narrow dirt road leading toward the cabin.
Marcus cursed under his breath.
"They're here."
Inside the lead SUV, a man in a black tactical jacket lowered a pair of binoculars.
"They're still inside."
Another man nodded.
"The sniper missed."
The first man smiled coldly.
"He wasn't trying to kill them."
"What?"
"He was making sure they stayed put."
The convoy continued moving toward the cabin.
Marcus looked through the back window.
"We have maybe two minutes."
Eleanor grabbed the leather folder.
"We can't leave this."
"No."
Marcus reached beneath a loose floorboard.
To Eleanor's surprise, he pulled out a waterproof backpack.
Inside were emergency supplies, cash, a satellite phone, spare ammunition...
...and several encrypted flash drives.
"You've planned this."
"For three years."
He handed Eleanor a flashlight.
"There's a tunnel beneath the cabin."
She stared at him.
"A tunnel?"
"The original owners used it during Prohibition."
Marcus pulled a heavy rug aside.
A rusted metal hatch appeared beneath it.
"They'll never expect us to leave underground."
Meanwhile, Nathaniel couldn't sleep.
He remained alone in his grandmother's study, unable to stop thinking about everything that had happened.
His phone buzzed.
It was an unknown number.
He answered cautiously.
"This is Nathaniel."
A distorted voice spoke quietly.
"If you want your grandmother alive..."
Nathaniel stood immediately.
"Who is this?"
"Stop trusting Detective Carter."
Nathaniel's grip tightened around the phone.
"What have you done to her?"
The caller ignored the question.
"The answers you're looking for aren't in the police files."
"Then where?"
"In your father's office."
Nathaniel froze.
"My father died twelve years ago."
"I know."
The line went dead.
Nathaniel stood motionless.
His father's private office had been locked since the funeral.
No one had entered it in over a decade.
Back at the cabin, Marcus opened the underground hatch.
Cold air rushed upward from the darkness below.
"Hurry."
Eleanor climbed down the narrow ladder.
Marcus followed, locking the hatch above them just as SUV doors slammed outside.
Heavy boots crunched across the gravel.
Seconds later, the cabin door burst open.
Armed men flooded inside.
The leader swept the room with his flashlight.
"Search everywhere."
Within moments, one of the men shouted.
"Boss!"
"What?"
"The room's empty."
The leader frowned.
"They couldn't have disappeared."
Another man noticed the rug slightly out of place.
He pulled it back.
The hatch.
He smiled.
"They're underground."
The leader spoke into his radio.
"Seal both tunnel exits."
He looked down into the darkness.
"No matter where they run..."
May you like
"...they're walking straight into our trap."
Far below, Marcus and Eleanor hurried through the damp stone tunnel, unaware that the people hunting them already knew exactly where they were headed.
