Chapter 3 - Shadows on the Perimeter
The estate's security monitors mounted behind the bathroom's mirror flickered erratically. Static lines tore across the feeds displaying the eastern lawn and the service gate. Two green status indicators blinked out simultaneously, replaced by blinking red crosses: the sentries at Gate 4 were down.
Bruno didn't wait. With a heavy splash that spilled twenty gallons of warm water onto the bathroom floor, the Cane Corso vaulted cleanly over the rim of the tub. He landed with a wet, heavy thud, his injured leg slipping slightly before his claws found purchase on the stone rug. He did not favor the wound; his focus had turned entirely toward the corridor.
""Marcus! Report!"" Julian barked into his lapel radio, stepping quickly into the bedroom to retrieve his customized Sig Sauer from the bedside safe.
Static hissed through the earpiece. A ragged breath followed, choked with panic. ""...they aren't thieves, sir... tactical black gear... no insignias... they deployed EMP charges on the generators... they're inside the main foyer—"" The voice was abruptly cut short by a burst of high-velocity submachine gun fire.
The backup emergency lights snapped on, painting the corridor in an eerie, blood-red glow. The entire estate groaned as the power grid fell dead.
Bruno stood at the threshold of the bedroom door, his massive head lowered, ears pinned back. The dog did not bark. Instead, a silent, predatory tension radiated from every fiber of his muscular frame. He stepped forward into the corridor, sniffing the air currents wafting up the grand staircase.
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Julian racked the slide of his sidearm, moving silently behind the hound. He knew the layout of his ancestral home down to every hidden partition and load-bearing stud, but as he peered down the darkened balustrade toward the foyer, he counted four silhouettes moving in textbook military formation through the shadows.
One of the intruders brought a laser designator up toward the mezzanine. A crimson dot flickered across the carpet, climbing up Julian’s chest, until it stopped dead center over Bruno’s left eye.
