Chapter 6 - THE BURNING MANSION
The rain was falling in torrential sheets by the time the heavy Ford F-150 pulled onto the dark, winding coastal road leading to Sullivan’s Island.
The storm had completely knocked out the island’s power grid. Streetlights were dark, and the ocean surged violently against the sea wall, sending spray over the asphalt.
Emily turned off the truck’s headlights a quarter-mile before the gates of the Callahan estate, letting the vehicle coast silently down the long, tree-lined driveway beneath the towering live oaks.
The mansion rose out of the darkness like a black monolith. The west wing was completely gutted by fire, its wooden beams charred and smoking beneath the rain. The grand front entrance was wrapped in yellow police tape that flapped violently in the howling wind.
Emily parked the truck deep inside the shadows of a thick hedge.
She reached over, grabbing the heavy leather briefcase containing the hard drives, then held the silver flash drive tightly in her hand.
"Okay, Titan," Emily whispered, looking at the dog in the dim light of the cab. "We go in, find the basement vault, plug this in, and get out. Nice and easy."
Titan let out a low huff, his head turning toward the dark house. His ears snapped back, his nostrils flaring as he caught a scent on the ocean wind.
Emily froze. "What is it?"
Titan dropped his head low, letting out a sub-audible vibration from his chest.
Someone was already inside the house.
Emily felt her blood run cold. She quietly reached under the driver's seat, pulling out Jack's heavy tactical flashlight. She didn't have a gun, but she had Titan, and right now, Titan was worth ten armed men.
"Stay low," Emily whispered, opening her door millimeter by millimeter.
They stepped out into the freezing rain, moving silently across the muddy lawn toward the unburned east wing of the estate.
Emily crept up the rear terrace steps, stepping through a broken French door into the pitch-black dining room. The air inside smelled heavily of smoke, wet ash, and scorched wood.
She kept the flashlight turned off, navigating by the faint flashes of lightning illuminating the tall windows.
Titan moved beside her like a ghost, his padded paws making no sound on the wet hardwood floor. Suddenly, he bumped his massive shoulder against her hip, bringing her to a dead stop near the grand hallway entrance.
From down the hall, near the study, Emily heard voices.
"Search the desk again!" a man barked softly. "Julian said the physical override key was on a silver chain around Grant's neck, but it wasn't on him at the hospital! It has to be in this room!"
"The whole house is scorched, boss," another voice replied nervously. "If Mercer's guys took it—"
"Mercer is currently locked in a police cell downtown!" the first man snapped. "Find the key! If Julian doesn't get that drive uploaded before dawn, the offshore accounts lock down permanently!"
Emily pressed her back flat against the wall, her breath hitching in her throat.
Julian’s mercenaries were already here. They were looking for the exact same key sitting in her palm.
She looked down the hall. To reach the hidden basement vault, she had to cross the main ballroom—the exact room where she had sat on the floor with Titan hours earlier—and reach the heavy steel door behind the wine cellar.
There were at least four armed men in the study, their flashlight beams dancing across the dark hallway.
Emily leaned down to Titan. "We have to distract them."
She reached into her pocket, pulling out Jack's heavy tactical flashlight. She clicked the power button on, turned the light to its highest strobe setting, and rolled it hard across the polished floor toward the far end of the hallway.
The bright, flashing light bounced loudly against the wall, illuminating the dark corridor like a strobe club.
"WHAT WAS THAT?!" a mercenary shouted.
"OVER THERE! GO!"
Footsteps thundered down the hall as all four men ran toward the flashing light.
"Now!" Emily hissed.
She sprinted across the hallway, carrying the briefcase, with Titan bounding right behind her. They burst into the ruined ballroom, stepping over broken glass and fallen chandeliers, and darted through the rear service door leading down to the wine cellar.
They bounded down the narrow brick stairs into the subterranean basement.
The air down here was cold, damp, and quiet. Emily clicked on her phone's screen, using the faint light to illuminate the stone walls. At the far end of the cellar, hidden behind a heavy rack of dusty wine bottles, was a reinforced steel vault door with an electronic terminal.
Emily rushed to the door, pulling the silver chain from her pocket.
She located a small physical slot beneath the digital keypad and shoved the steel flash drive straight into it.
The terminal instantly hummed to life, a blue LED screen lighting up:
PHYSICAL KEY DETECTED.INSERT PRIMARY DATA DISKS.
Emily opened the leather briefcase with shaking hands, pulling out the three heavy hard drives she had saved from Pier 14. She plugged the thick USB cables directly into the vault's master ports.
The screen flashed rapidly:
FILE DETECTED: BLACKTHORN_EVIDENCE.DATTARGET SERVER: US_FEDERAL_GRAND_JURY_NETWORKTRANSFER STATUS: INITIALIZING... 1%... 3%...
"Come on... come on..." Emily prayed under her breath, watching the slow progress bar.
Suddenly, a loud BANG echoed from the top of the cellar stairs.
The heavy wooden door at the top of the stairwell was kicked open, splintering against the brick wall.
"SHE'S DOWN HERE!" a voice roared. "KILL THE DOG!"
Heavy footsteps thundered down the brick steps. Flashlight beams cut through the darkness of the cellar.
Emily whirled around, stepping in front of the vault terminal to shield it with her body.
Titan stepped past her, standing at the base of the stairs. He didn't retreat. He didn't flinch.
A flashlight beam hit Titan directly in the face, illuminating his massive black form, his white teeth bared in a terrifying grin, his eyes gleaming like burning coals in the dark.
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"SHOOT HIM!" the lead mercenary screamed, raising his assault rifle.
Titan let out a roar that echoed through the subterranean chamber like an artillery shell, leaping straight up the brick stairs into the blinding light.
