Chapter 13 - SHIELDING THE BLOODLINE
Elena screamed, pulling Noah tight against her chest as heavy, rapid footsteps pounded up the wooden staircase.
"In the panic room! Now!" Marcus roared, vaulting over the stairwell railing and firing three rapid shots down the hall, driving the lead intruder back against the wall.
Elena scrambled through the nursery's hidden wall panel—a reinforced steel panic space built behind the wardrobe—and slammed the heavy door shut just as bullets began tearing through the plaster wall outside.
Downstairs, the front oak doors were blown off their hinges.
Daniel’s armored SUV roared up the driveway, smashing directly through the intruders' idling escape van. Daniel hit the ground running before his vehicle even came to a complete stop, drawing his weapon and moving into the smoke-filled foyer.
He moved through the house like a phantom born of rage.
He neutralized the first tactical operative near the dining hall with two precise shots, swept the kitchen corridor, and bounded up the grand stairs two steps at a time. Marcus was pinned near the upper landing, bleeding from a graze on his left shoulder, holding off two mercenaries trying to breach the nursery.
"Daniel!" Marcus shouted over the ringing alarms. "They came for the boy!"
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Daniel didn't hesitate. He flanked the remaining two operatives from the master hallway, taking them down before they could turn their weapons.
The compound fell into a sudden, eerie silence, broken only by the crackle of burning drywall and the wail of distant police sirens.
