Chapter 12 - THE BREACH AT BLACKWOOD
Night fell heavy over the Pacific coast. Fog rolled off the dark ocean waves, thick and cold, wrapping around the stone walls of the Blackwood Compound.
Inside the nursery, soft yellow light illuminated the crib. Noah was sitting up, giggling as Elena fed him spoonfuls of warm apple puree. The toddler’s bruise had already faded to a light yellow smear, and his small hands clapped enthusiastically every time Elena made a silly face.
Downstairs in the security monitoring center, Marcus watched sixteen live camera feeds.
Suddenly, monitors 4 and 7—covering the north perimeter fence—flickered with static before going completely black.
"Boss," Marcus spoke into his radio, his hand dropping instantly to his sidearm. "We have a perimeter sensor failure on the north wall. Motion detectors cut."
Three miles away, speeding down the coastal highway in the rear seat of his armored SUV, Daniel snatched his phone. "Lock down the inner doors, Marcus! I'm five minutes out!"
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Before Marcus could hit the emergency interlock button, the heavy reinforced glass of the parlor window shattered inward with an explosive crunch.
Flashbang grenades detonated in the courtyard, filling the lower floor with blinding white light and deafening booms. Four masked men in tactical gear, armed with suppressed submachine guns, breached the lower level through the smoke.
