Chapter 12 - Breach in the Corridor
Agent Miller shoved the micro-SD card into her tactical vest pocket, drawing her service weapon in a single fluid motion and positioning herself in front of Lily and Mark.
"Stay behind me," Miller ordered, her voice dropping into a razor-sharp tactical register. She stepped out of the library into the dimly lit corridor where emergency backup lighting cast long, sickly yellow beams across the smoke-filled hallway.
Heavy footsteps pounded against the carpeted floor as two armed men in dark tactical gear—unmarked, lacking any official insignia—rounded the corner, their assault rifles raised.
"Federal agents! Drop your weapons!" Miller bellowed, squeezing off two rapid warning shots that sparked off the stone wall above the intruders' heads.
The two men didn't drop their weapons. Instead, they opened fire with suppressors, the dull thip-thip-thip of rounds shredding the expensive wallpaper and splintering the wooden wainscoting inches from Miller’s shoulder.
Mark instinctively shoved Lily down behind a heavy carved oak bench, throwing his own body over hers to shield her from the flying wood splinters. "Miller, they're not trying to arrest us! They're here for the SD card!"
Miller ducked behind a marble pillar, returning fire with calculated precision. Her first shot caught the lead gunman in the shoulder, spinning him around and sending his rifle clattering to the floor. The second man hesitated for a split second, dragged his wounded partner backward, and hurled a small, black cylindrical object down the corridor toward them.
"Flashbang!" Miller screamed, slamming her eyes shut and covering her ears as she pressed herself flat against the marble floor.
A blinding flash of magnesium light filled the hallway, accompanied by a deafening concussive boom that rattled teeth and knocked the remaining air out of everyone's lungs. The thick smoke turned an incandescent white before settling back into a choking gray haze.
Coughing violently, Miller scrambled to her feet, sweeping her pistol down the empty corridor. The hallway was completely deserted. The intruders had vanished into the labyrinth of escape tunnels that laced beneath the Gilded Age estate.
"Are you two okay?" Miller called out, jogging back toward the oak bench.
Mark pushed himself up, dusting ash from his shoulders, and helped Lily to her feet. The little girl in the cream-colored party dress brushed down her skirt as calmly as if she had just stepped off a merry-go-round.
"They didn't get it," Lily said, holding up a small, decoy plastic memory card between her fingers.
Miller stared at the fake card, then patted the tactical pocket where the real micro-SD card safely rested. "You planned for this too, didn't you?"
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Lily offered a chillingly serene smile. "Grandfather taught me that in chess, you always sacrifice your weakest pawn to protect the queen."
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