Chapter 6 - The Glass Trap
The truth hit Alec like a sledgehammer. The wedding had never been about uniting shipping empires or solidifying territory. It had been an elaborate stage, an ambush designed to draw Alec, his loyal commanders, and Victor Vance into one sealed fortress where Donald Thorne could wipe the board clean in a single night.
Alec stepped back into the bedroom, his eyes burning with lethal clarity. He approached the bed, kneeling beside Clara. Dr. Evans was checking her IV line, his hands visibly shaking.
""Julian is downstairs,"" Alec said, his voice stripped of all emotion, cold as a winter gale. ""In the old subterranean vault.""
Clara reached up, her trembling fingers wrapping around his forearm. ""Donald... Donald approached my father six months ago. My father thought they were partnering to squeeze you out. But Donald wanted everyone dead. When I found out Julian was still breathing, I stole the drive from my father's desk. That's why he beat me, Alec. He wanted the drive back before Donald realized I had it.""
""You took a beating to keep my brother alive?"" Alec whispered, his eyes scanning the brutal violet marks on her shoulders.
""Julian... he helped me once, years ago,"" Clara breathed, tears spilling onto the bloodstained pillow. ""Before they locked him away. I owed him my life. But Alec, Donald isn't just downstairs. He’s already flooded the ventilation with halothane gas to knock out your security teams.""
Right on cue, the air vents high along the crown molding hissed, releasing a thin, odorless vapor into the suite.
""Doc, wet some towels,"" Alec ordered, springing into action. He snatched two emergency rebreathers from the tactical wall, pressing one over Clara’s nose and mouth, adjusting the straps with swift care. ""Breathe slow. Do not take this off.""
He fitted the second rebreather over his own face, then grabbed an oxygen canister and tossed it to Dr. Evans. ""Keep her alive. Lock the panic hatch under the floorboards. You stay there until I come back.""
""Mr. Thorne, you can't go down there alone,"" Evans protested, coughing as the first traces of gas hit the room. ""The whole ground level is compromised!""
""I'm not alone,"" Alec said, pulling two extra magazines from the crate and racking the slide of his primary rifle. ""I have the entire Thorne arsenal.""
He pulled open the brass cover of the bedroom fireplace, reaching inside the flue to pull a hidden manual lever. The rear brick wall slid aside, revealing a tight, winding stone staircase spiraling down into the historic core of the mansion.
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Just as Alec stepped onto the first stair, his wrist terminal pinged with an incoming broadcast. Donald’s face appeared on the miniature screen, grinning with sickening arrogance from the surveillance control room.
""Nephew,"" Donald’s voice oozed through the speaker. ""I see you found the recording. Come down to the ballroom. If you're not here in three minutes, I put a bullet in Julian's brain—and blow the suite above your head.""
