Chapter 14 - The Reunion
The warmth of the cabin fireplace offered a stark contrast to the freezing terror closing in around the clearing outside. James stood up, placing Leo gently back on the floor, and walked over to a heavy iron lever recessed into the floorboards near the back wall. With a mighty heave, he pulled the lever downward, revealing a reinforced steel vault door hidden beneath a thick rug. James explained that this was the original communications and archive center of the old logging operation, completely impenetrable and equipped with a satellite uplink that could transmit the ledger's contents directly to federal authorities. Mark and Elena worked together to herd Leo down into the secure vault just as the first heavy thud echoed against the cabin’s outer wooden walls, followed by the shattering of front window glass. James remained upstairs by the doorway, holding an old hunting rifle, determined to buy his family the precious minutes they needed to upload the evidence and end the forty-year nightmare once and for all. A sharp crack of gunfire echoed from the main room above, followed by James shouting down into the vault for Mark to lock the steel door immediately from the inside.
