Chapter 6 - The Uninvited Guard
The stranger’s grip was iron-clad, suffocating Chloe as he wrestled her phone away with his free hand and tossed it across the hardwood floor where it shattered against the baseboard. Panic surged through her veins, but years of self-defense classes kicked in, and she drove her heel down hard onto the man's instep with all her remaining strength. The guard grunted in pain, his grip loosening just enough for her to wrench her head free and let out a piercing scream that echoed down the long hallway.
"Marcus! Get out here!" the guard yelled, cursing under his breath as he lunged to recapture her arms.
Before the guard could pin her to the floor, the master bedroom door flew open with a loud bang, and Marcus stepped into the hallway, his face contorted with absolute fury.
"What in God's name is going on out here?" Marcus demanded, his dark eyes locking onto Chloe as she struggled against the burly man in the security uniform. "Vance, you absolute fool, why didn't you secure the perimeter like I told you?"
The guard—whom Marcus had just addressed as Vance—grimaced while rubbing his bruised foot, holding up the damaged smartphone that had skidded across the floor.
"She was recording the security archives from your laptop, Mr. Sterling," Vance replied defensively, panting heavily. "She’s got the hospital footage from six months ago saved on a cloud backup or streaming directly to her device before I smashed it."
Marcus’s face drained of all color, the stern authority in his expression instantly replaced by a look of sheer, unadulterated panic. He strode over and grabbed Chloe by the collar of her peach-colored button-up shirt, yaking her up so her feet barely touched the floor.
"Where did you send those files, Chloe?" Marcus hissed, shaking her violently while ignoring the tear streaming down her bruised cheek. "Tell me right now or you will regret the day you were born!"
"I sent them to the one person you can't bribe, Dad," Chloe gasped out defiantly, a fierce spark of courage lighting up her tear-filled eyes. "I sent them straight to Detective Miller at the precinct."
The name hung in the air like a death sentence, freezing both men in their tracks as the gravity of her words set in.
Before Marcus could respond, the sharp, unmistakable sound of flashing red and blue police cruiser lights illuminated the oversized windows of the front foyer downstairs.
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"Mr. Sterling, we've got three units pulling up the driveway," Eleanor’s voice called out urgently as she came running up the grand staircase in her green silk blouse, pale and breathless. "The front gate intercom is ringing; it’s Detective Miller, and he has a search warrant!"
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