Chapter 4 - Shadows in the Manor
""Stay down!"" Julian shouted, moving instantly in the dark.
Elena instinctively slid off the chair, pulling the elderly Marian with her to the floor behind the solid oak desk. Her years growing up in rough neighborhoods gave her an innate reaction to danger—she didn't freeze; she assessed.
The heavy mahogany doors creaked open. In the pale moonlight filtering through the French windows, Elena caught the silhouette of two men in tactical gear. The faint red dot of an infrared laser swept across the bookshelves, painting crimson lines over rows of leather books.
""Julian Sterling,"" a muffled voice rasped through a balaclava. ""Hand over the girl and the files, and the old woman walks.""
""You took Beatrice’s money,"" Julian’s voice echoed from the shadows near the fireplace. ""Which means you won't survive the night anyway. She leaves no witnesses.""
A suppressed gunshot coughed, splintering the armrest of the velvet chair Elena had occupied seconds earlier.
Elena crawled silently along the baseboard toward the heavy iron fire poker near the hearth. Her hands found the cold metal. As the second gunman stepped past the desk, aiming directly toward where Marian was curled up, Elena didn't hesitate. She swung the iron rod with all her strength, striking the man’s knee.
The man grunted, collapsing with a sickening crunch. Julian appeared like a wraith from the darkness, slamming the second intruder against the wall and disarming him with clinical precision.
Sirens wailed in the distance down the private driveway, accompanied by the shriek of spinning tires outside.
Julian clicked on a flashlight, illuminating the unconscious men on the floor. He looked at Elena, who was standing tall, gripping the iron poker, breathing hard but completely unshaken.
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""You're definitely Camille’s daughter,"" Julian said, a faint, grim smile touching his lips. Then his radio crackled to life with Marcus’s frantic voice.
""Sir! Beatrice’s car just broke the estate gates. And she took the master vault key.""
