Chapter 3 - Shadows on the Marble
The sudden blackness triggered instant chaos. Gunfire flared with deafening concussions, orange muzzle flashes illuminating the grand foyer in frantic strobes.
Julian didn't hesitate. Instead of taking the pen, he dropped low, sweeping his leg into Marcus’s shins. The security chief grunted, collapsing forward into the banister. Julian threw his arms around Elena and Leo, dragging them beneath the overhang of the staircase just as shards of heavy glass rained from the ceiling.
Rappelling lines whipped down through the ruined skylight. Dark figures dressed in tactical gear hit the marble with practiced precision. They weren't Beatrice’s guards.
""Target secured! Check the lower landing!"" an unfamiliar voice barked through a communications headset.
Beatrice screamed, scrambling backward up the steps as flashbangs erupted in brilliant, blinding bursts. Julian held Elena's head against his chest, shielding the baby’s ears from the disorienting percussion.
Through the haze and smoke, a tactical laser sight hovered across Julian’s chest, steady and lethal. Julian raised a hand, breathing hard. ""Hold your fire! There’s an infant here!""
The operative lowered his carbine, stepping closer. The tactical helmet clicked open, revealing the scarred, weathered face of a middle-aged man Julian hadn't seen in seven years: Frank Vance, his father’s former head of personal security who had vanished overnight after the senior Hawthorne’s fatal car accident.
""Julian,"" Frank said in a raspy whisper. ""We don't have much time. Your mother didn't just order the boy's death. She activated the cleanup protocol. We need to move before the second wave arrives.""
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""Second wave?"" Julian demanded, helping Elena to her feet.
Frank looked grim, swapping a fresh magazine into his rifle. ""She hired professional mercenaries to burn this estate to ash tonight. And they're already at the front gates.""
