Chapter 8: The Breach
"Open this door! Federal warrant or estate security—drop your weapons and step away from the cases!" a gruff voice roared from the hallway, followed by the deafening sound of a heavy battering ram slamming against the deadbolt.
The solid oak frame cracked, wood splinters flying across the archive floor.
"They're breaching the lock!" Inspector Reed yelled, rushing to the heavy oak door and throwing his entire body weight against it, turning the deadbolt backup latch. But it was only a matter of seconds before the reinforced hinges gave way.
"Evelyn, take the will!" Reed shouted over the splintering wood, drawing his weapon and aiming it directly at the threshold. "Take Noah through the emergency exit shaft! There’s a ladder leading up to the greenhouse gardens on the west lawn!"
"I'm not leaving you here!" Evelyn cried, clutching the leather folder to her chest.
"Go! That’s an order!" Reed barked. "If they get that document, Noah has no future! Run!"
With a deafening crash, the archive door exploded inward. Two heavily armed private security contractors swarmed through the opening, clad in tactical black gear and night-vision goggles.
"Drop your weapon, Inspector!" one of them shouted, raising an assault rifle.
Shots rang out—a deafening cacophony of gunfire in the enclosed subterranean space. Reed fired back, catching the first assailant in the shoulder, but the second guard lunged forward, tackling the inspector to the floor.
"Evelyn, go!" Noah screamed, grabbing the wheels of his chair and spinning them forward toward the back wall.
Behind the floor-to-ceiling map case, a narrow steel panel stood ajar, revealing a vertical ladder shaft illuminated by a faint green emergency exit sign.
Evelyn didn't hesitate anymore. She grabbed the back of Noah’s wheelchair, tipping it slightly backward to lift the front casters, and pushed him through the hidden exit panel just as heavy boots thundered across the room toward them.
"Stop right there!" a voice screamed behind them.
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Evelyn slammed the steel panel shut from the inside, dropping the heavy manual security bar across the latch just as a fist pounded furiously against the metal from the other side.
They were inside the ventilation and escape shaft—dark, narrow, and rising steeply into the damp autumn night.
