Chapter 9 - Breach of Contract
The heavy brass doorknob rattled furiously, turning back and forth as someone on the other side tried every possible override code stored on a digital bypass scanner. A dull electronic beep echoed through the foyer—error, access denied.
Maya didn't flinch. Her corporate security system was top-tier military grade; a petty loan shark’s electronic gadgetry wasn't going to crack the biometric lock on the first try. But it was only a matter of seconds before they resorted to brute force.
"Get away from the door," Maya commanded in a low, steely whisper, sliding her phone into her blazer pocket and stepping smoothly between the front entrance and the living room.
Marcus scrambled on all fours behind the white sofa, pulling a sobbing Chloe with him. "They're going to kill us! Viktor doesn't care about corporate files, he wants his hundred thousand dollars in cash or he takes a finger!"
"Then you should have thought about that before you gambled away money you didn't have," Maya said without looking back, her eyes fixed on the heavy wood of the front door.
The muffled sound of an argument echoed from the porch—angry, harsh voices hissing in Russian and broken English. Then came the unmistakable sound of a heavy crowbar wedging into the doorframe, scraping against the reinforced steel bolt with a screech of tortured metal.
Maya didn't hesitate. She walked briskly across the foyer to the wall-mounted smart home panel, tapped a hidden master override code, and pressed a glowing red button labeled DEFENSIVE PROTOCOL.
Instantly, the recessed overhead lights throughout the entire house shut off, plunging the interior into pitch blackness. At the same time, heavy, motorized steel hurricane shutters slammed down over every ground-floor window with a deafening, thunderous crash.
From the porch, a startled shout rang out as the crowbar slipped violently from the doorframe.
"What did you do?!" Marcus hissed from the dark living room floor.
"I secured my property," Maya's voice rang out calmly from the center of the foyer, completely steady in the dark. "My smart home system is tied directly to local private security armed response. They were dispatched the moment the perimeter sensors detected an unauthorized bypass attempt."
Chloe whimpered softly in the dark. "How long until they get here? Five minutes? Ten minutes? Viktor's men don't wait for private security!"
"They have three minutes," Maya replied. "Which is plenty of time for you to pack whatever trash bags you have left and walk out the back service exit before the authorities arrive."
Marcus peeked up over the edge of the white sofa, his eyes adjusting to the dim emergency backup lighting filtering down from the second-floor stairwell. "The back exit? The alley gate is padlocked from the outside!"
Maya reached into her suit jacket pocket, pulled out a small silver key ring, and tossed it through the air. It landed with a soft clatter on the hardwood floor near Marcus's hand.
May you like
"The silver key opens the side gate," Maya said coldly. "Use it. Because when my security team arrives, they have standing orders to shoot first and ask questions later if they find unauthorized intruders on my land."
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