Chapter 16 - The Subterranean Trap
Dominic and Hannah followed Vanessa down a spiraling stone staircase that led deep into the bowels of the ancient chateau. The air grew significantly colder, the grand opulence of the ballroom replaced by sleek, modern steel and reinforced glass. They entered a massive, high-tech vault disguised as a wine cellar.
Four heavily armed Corsican mercenaries stood guard at the corners of the room. In the center, resting on a velvet-lined pedestal, was a small, titanium briefcase. It held the synthetic digitalis formulas and the concentrated samples ready for distribution.
Vanessa turned around, her white gown stark against the dark stone walls. She finally dropped the polite facade, her eyes burning with arrogant victory. "This is where it ends, Dominic. In exactly ten minutes, the buyers upstairs will bid billions for this formula. Your logistics company will be destroyed by the ensuing scandal when my agents distribute the toxin through your supply lines."
"You went through a lot of trouble just to get my attention," Dominic said coldly, calculating the distance between himself and the mercenaries. "You could have just asked for your ring back."
Vanessa laughed, a harsh, ugly sound. "This was never about you, Dominic! You were just a stepping stone. Arthur was a blunt instrument, and Walter was a greedy old fool. I played all of you. I am the true heir to the Corsican network, and tonight, the world will know my name."
She snapped her fingers. The four mercenaries instantly raised their suppressed automatic rifles, aiming directly at Dominic and Hannah.
"Kill him," Vanessa ordered smoothly. "But leave the doctor alive. I want her to watch him die before I use her as my first human trial for the new batch."
Before a single trigger could be pulled, Hannah acted with terrifying, flawless precision.
She dropped to the stone floor, her hand ripping the slit of her emerald dress to expose the tactical thigh holster. In one fluid motion, she pulled the suppressed pistol and fired two perfect shots. She didn't aim for the guards. She aimed directly at the heavy glass pipes running along the ceiling—the chateau's high-pressure climate control coolant system.
The glass shattered violently. A massive, blinding cloud of freezing, pressurized liquid freon erupted into the enclosed cellar, instantly dropping the room's temperature below freezing and creating a thick, blinding white fog.
The mercenaries shouted in confusion, firing blindly into the mist. But Dominic was already moving. He was a ghost in the fog, a lethal apex predator unleashed. He disarmed the first guard with a brutal strike to the throat, using the man's own rifle to neutralize the second and third attackers in rapid, flawless succession.
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Hannah crawled through the freezing mist, ignoring the biting cold on her bare arms. She reached the center pedestal. Vanessa was standing there, coughing violently, blindly grasping for the titanium briefcase.
Hannah lunged forward, tackling the wealthy socialite to the hard stone floor.
