Chapter 4 - The Underground Vein
""Why are you here, Frank?"" Julian asked as they sprinted down the service hallway toward the mansion's subterranean wine cellar.
""Your father knew this day would come,"" Frank answered, punching a sequence into an inconspicuous digital keypad hidden behind a panel of mahogany shelves. ""Arthur knew Beatrice’s narcissism would consume this family once he was gone. He left me with contingency funds and a dead-man trigger. When the mansion’s primary comms were cut five minutes ago, my team mobilized.""
Behind them, distant explosions shook the mansion's foundations. Beatrice's private mercenaries had arrived, and gunfire erupted upstairs as Frank’s men fought a delaying action.
The shelf swung open, exposing a damp concrete tunnel illuminated by low-wattage emergency bulbs. The smell of earth and stale air washed over them.
""Where does this lead?"" Elena asked, holding Leo snugly inside Julian’s white suit jacket.
""To the old boat docks on the river bluff,"" Frank said, gesturing them inside. ""Two miles of underground service tunnels built during the Cold War. Keep moving. My men can only hold the foyer for six minutes.""
Julian entered last, but before Frank pulled the heavy door shut, a trembling, furious voice echoed down the hall.
""Julian! Don't you dare step into that dark!""
Beatrice stood at the end of the hall, her dress ripped at the hem, her pearl necklace snapped and scattered across the tiles. In her trembling hand, she held a compact revolver. Her eyes were wild, stripped of all aristocratic elegance.
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""You leave this house, and you cease to exist,"" she shrilled, pointing the gun straight at Julian's heart. ""I built this dynasty! I won't let you throw it away for nothing!""
Behind Beatrice, the smoke parted, and a masked mercenary leveled a shotgun directly at the back of her head.
