Chapter 9 - The Iron Trap
The heavy steel door sealed shut with a deafening thud, echoing off the damp concrete walls of the service tunnel. Eleanor rushed back, slamming her hands against the reinforced metal, but it was completely immovable. The digital keypad beside the frame glowed a harsh, mocking crimson.
"They locked the sector remotely," Marcus cursed, shining his tactical light along the seams of the door. "Someone in the main security nexus just initiated total lockdown protocols for Sub-Level Two."
Below them through the metal grating, the sound of the industrial shredder abruptly stopped. Margaret and Arthur had clearly heard the heavy door slam overhead. The muffled murmur of their voices ceased entirely, replaced by the heavy, deliberate crunch of leather shoes pacing slowly across the concrete floor directly beneath Eleanor’s feet.
"Marcus, can you pick the lock?" Eleanor whispered urgently, adjusting the baby carrier as Leo whimpered softly against her chest.
"Not this model, ma'am. This is military-grade titanium encryption," Marcus replied, already pulling a diagnostic tablet from his tactical vest and plugging a data cable directly into a junction box on the tunnel wall. "I can try to override the system digitally, but it’s going to route through the primary server room—which means Margaret’s team will see the hack the second I initiate it."
A metallic scraping sound came from the floor grate beneath them. Eleanor looked down and saw the barrel of a sleek, silenced pistol pushing slowly up through the rusted iron slats, aiming directly at the narrow space where she stood.
"Step away from the grate, Mrs. Vance," Arthur's cold, calculated voice floated up from the darkness below. "We can hear every breath you take. Drop your communications gear through the bars right now, or we flood this ventilation shaft with halon gas."
Eleanor froze. The air in the tunnel was already thinning. Below, the red laser sight of the silenced weapon traced a steady, glowing line across the concrete floor, stopping inches from her boot. Marcus moved with lightning speed, pressing himself flat against the tunnel wall while angling his tablet to execute a blind brute-force override on the steel door behind them.
"You're out of time, Arthur," Eleanor called out, her voice surprisingly steady as she channeled every ounce of her protective rage. "David has the original files backed up off-site. Killing us won't save your empire!"
A sharp, humorless laugh echoed from below. "David is currently tied to a chair in the main boardroom," Arthur replied smoothly. "And by the time the authorities arrive, this entire estate will be a smoking ruin of a tragic electrical fire."
May you like
Before Arthur could finish his sentence, the digital screen on Marcus’s tactical tablet flashed brilliant green, and the heavy steel door behind them sprang open with a violent hiss.
---
