Chapter 6 - Empty Sanctuary
Julian sprinted down the stairs, his footsteps frantic. He rounded the corner to the private study, panting heavily, his heart hammering against his ribs like a caged animal.
The heavy steel door stood wide open.
""Lily!"" Julian screamed, bursting into the room.
The room was in shambles. Books had been pulled from the shelves, papers scattered like discarded confetti. The leather sofa where he had left her was bare; his wool coat lay crumpled on the Persian rug, slashed straight down the middle with a razor-sharp blade.
The safe behind the painting was untouched, but the biometric console beside the hidden vault door had been hacked. A small portable decryption drive hung from the USB port, its green LED blinking rapidly.
Julian rushed to the desk and checked the security cameras. The monitor that had shown the third-floor nursery was now black, displaying only static. The feed to the subterranean garage, however, was active.
A black SUV—Julian's own armored Range Rover—was currently reversing out of the private bay, tires screaming against the smooth concrete. In the driver's seat was the gaunt man, his dark scarf discarded. His face was scarred, twisted with old burns, and entirely unrecognizable.
Beside him, tied into the passenger seat with heavy zip-ties, was Lily. Her small face was pressed against the reinforced glass, her mouth open in a soundless, desperate cry for her father.
Julian didn't hesitate. He grabbed the keys to his vintage Ducati motorcycle resting in the secondary stable and tore through the glass doors of the study, racing toward the garage elevator.
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As the elevator doors closed, his phone vibrated in his pocket. It was an unknown number. He answered it, pressing the device against his ear.
""If you call the police,"" Michael Hall's voice rasped through the speaker, ""she goes into the river just like her mother did.""
