Chapter 10 - Darkness in the Carriage House
The sudden pitch-black darkness was shattered by the heavy thud of combat boots hitting the wooden stairs outside the second-floor laboratory. Someone was coming up fast, skipping steps with the aggressive efficiency of men trained in tactical breaching.
"They found us," Julian said, his voice dropping into a harsh, steady whisper as he moved instinctively toward the heavy oak workbench to find a heavy wrench or any makeshift weapon available.
Liam didn't hesitate. He snapped the metallic briefcase shut, locking the latches with a crisp click, and handed it directly to his father. "Take the backdoor stairwell down to the root cellar. There’s an old drainage culvert that leads out past the security perimeter toward the highway."
"I'm not leaving you here to take the fall alone, Liam," Julian growled, planting his feet firmly on the floorboards.
"Dad, if they catch you with those drives, the patents are gone forever," Liam said, his voice carrying an absolute, unyielding authority that brooked no argument. "Go. I’ll buy you ten minutes."
Before Julian could protest further, the wooden door at the top of the stairwell exploded inward with a deafening crash as a flashbang grenade was tossed into the room, filling the space with blinding white light and a concussive roar that rattled the windows in their frames.
Liam dropped to one knee, shielding his eyes from the blinding glare just as two figures in black tactical gear poured through the shattered doorway, their weapons raised and sweeping the room with tactical flashlight beams.
"Target secured!" one of the operatives barked into a shoulder radio, his voice distorted by a voice-scrambling comms unit. "Repeat, we have visual on the primary."
A third figure stepped through the ruined doorway behind them, calmly stepping over the splintered wood of the door frame. Marcus Vance adjusted his silver-rimmed glasses, the cool, ambient glow of the tactical flashlights reflecting off the lenses as he looked down at Liam kneeling on the floor.
"Really, Liam? Running away with stolen data?" Marcus sighed with a sickening display of fraternal disappointment. "You always lacked the killer instinct required to survive in our world."
Liam slowly pushed himself to his feet, ignoring the ringing in his ears from the flashbang. His eyes locked onto his younger brother with a cold, predatory intensity that made Marcus take an involuntary half-step back despite the two armed operatives standing beside him.
"Where is Dad?" Marcus demanded sharply, scanning the dark corners of the laboratory with his flashlight beam. "The old man was supposed to be in the main house."
"He's already gone, Marcus," Liam said softly, a dark, dangerous smile touching his lips. "And he took the Zurich transfer keys with him."
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Marcus’s polite corporate mask shattered instantly, his face twisting into a mask of pure, unadulterated panic as he lunged forward, grabbing Liam by the collar of his white dress shirt. "Where did he go?!"
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