Chapter 14 - The Breach
The crushing heartbreak on Arthur Sterling's face was instantly interrupted by the deafening sound of a massive explosion.
The thick oak front doors were violently blown off their steel hinges, sending a shower of burning wood and shattered glass flying across the grand foyer.
Adrian reacted on pure instinct, tackling Claire and Noah to the marble floor and shielding their bodies with his own.
Marcus drew his weapon in a fraction of a second, firing blindly into the thick black smoke pouring through the destroyed entrance.
"Get them to the panic room!" Marcus roared, diving behind a shattered marble pillar as a barrage of automatic gunfire ripped through the walls.
Six men dressed in tactical black gear and wearing night-vision goggles stormed into the house, completely bypassing the outer perimeter guards.
These were not common thugs; they were highly trained mercenaries sent by the Swiss syndicate to collect their bloody debt.
Arthur Sterling’s lawyer screamed in terror and tried to run, but a mercenary ruthlessly shot him in the leg, sending him crashing to the floor.
Sterling himself stumbled backward, raising his wooden cane as if to fight, but a mercenary shoved him brutally against the wall.
Adrian pulled Noah and Claire to their feet, dragging them toward the hidden doorway disguised behind a massive oil painting in the hallway.
"Keep moving, do not look back!" Adrian shouted, pushing his terrified wife and son into the narrow, reinforced steel corridor.
He turned around just in time to see a mercenary aiming a rifle directly at Arthur Sterling’s chest.
Despite his immense hatred for the man who had bought his son, Adrian could not let Noah witness the murder of the man who had raised him.
Adrian grabbed a heavy brass candelabra from a shattered table and hurled it with incredible force, striking the mercenary squarely in the face.
The distraction allowed Marcus to line up a perfect shot, taking the mercenary down with a single, echoing blast.
"Sterling, move your ancient legs!" Adrian screamed, reaching out and grabbing the old billionaire by his expensive coat.
He yanked Sterling into the hidden corridor just as another barrage of bullets shredded the walls where they had been standing.
Adrian slammed the heavy vault door shut, spinning the steel locking wheel until it clicked heavily into place.
The sudden silence inside the panic room was deafening, broken only by the panicked breathing of the four terrified people.
Claire was holding Noah tightly in the corner, tears streaming down her face, but she remained remarkably strong.
Sterling collapsed onto a steel bench, clutching his chest and gasping for breath, his eyes wide with absolute shock.
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"What in God's name is happening, Caldwell?" Sterling gasped, coughing violently.
"That," Adrian said coldly, checking the security monitors lining the wall, "is the deadly syndicate that Julian used to sell our son."
