Chapter 6 - Footprints in the Cellar
Julian sprang to his feet, running through the kitchen toward the pantry stairs, his handgun leveled. Bruno followed directly behind his heels, moving with silent, terrifying speed despite his injuries.
The steel door leading to the wine cellar and the lower storm shelter hung slightly ajar. The heavy electronic lock had not been blown with explosives; it had been neatly bypassed using an authorized six-digit override code—a code known to only three people on Earth.
""Elena?"" Julian called out, keeping his voice low and level as he descended the concrete stairs.
There was no answer. The smell of cold earth and aged cork filled the air. At the bottom of the flight, the floor was slick with condensation. Near the wine racks, Elena lay unconscious, a dark bruise forming along her temple, her pulse rapid but steady.
Emma was gone.
In the center of the concrete room, resting atop an empty cedar shipping crate, was a pair of Emma’s small, soaked sneakers. Beside them lay a clean, folded piece of waterproof paper weighted down by an antique silver ring—the very wedding band Julian had placed on Sarah's finger ten years prior.
Bruno lowered his nose to the crate, inhaling deeply. A low, sorrowful whine vibrated in the dog’s throat. He picked up the scent instantly, his head turning sharply toward the utility tunnel hatch that led out to the municipal drainage system half a mile down the mountain.
Julian snatched the silver ring and the note. His hands shook with an intensity no financial crisis or corporate threat had ever provoked.
Written in Sarah’s familiar, precise handwriting were four sentences:
May you like
He led them straight to you because I couldn't reach you in time. They want the Cerberus neural core inside him, and they took Emma to ensure you hand him over. Do not involve local authorities; Ares owns the precinct. Bring Bruno to the Ironworks at Pier 44 before dawn, or our daughter will be wiped clean.
From the dark tunnel opening, a distant echo of metal clattering reverberated back into the cellar.
