Chapter 18
We hurried into the master bedroom, the darkness making every step feel treacherous.
James took the lead, his weapon raised, while Collins brought up the rear, guarding Claire and Ethan.
Vance limped behind us, the rhythmic thud-click of his cane a constant reminder of the shadow world we had been dragged into.
I threw open the heavy wooden doors of the walk-in closet.
It was empty, save for a few old wool blankets on the shelves.
I knelt on the floor, ripping away the dusty rug that covered the center of the space.
The floorboards looked completely ordinary.
"Look for a knot in the wood," Vance instructed from the doorway, his flashlight beam cutting through the dust motes.
"Your grandfather was a master of concealment."
"It won't be a handle or a lever."
"It will be a mechanical pressure point."
I dragged my fingers across the cold oak planks, feeling for any imperfection.
Near the back corner, my thumb pressed against a raised, circular knot in the wood.
It felt slightly loose.
I pressed down hard.
A sharp, metallic clunk echoed from beneath the floorboards.
A two-foot section of the closet floor shifted, dropping downward by an inch before sliding smoothly to the side.
Claire gasped as a blast of cool, stale air rushed up from the opening.
Revealed beneath the floor was a steep, narrow flight of concrete stairs leading down into pitch blackness.
"The emergency lights should activate once we break the threshold," Vance muttered.
Suddenly, a distant, high-pitched whine echoed from the lake outside.
The sound of high-powered marine engines.
"They're here," James said, his voice taut. "The boats just entered the bay."
"Move, move, move!" I shouted, ushering Claire down the opening first.
Collins followed immediately, her weapon pointed down into the darkness to secure the landing.
James grabbed Vance by the collar of his expensive coat, throwing him down the stairs with zero ceremony before stepping into the hatch himself.
I was the last one left in the bedroom.
Through the window, I saw the blinding flash of searchlights cutting through the pine trees from the shoreline.
May you like
The mercenaries had landed.
I dropped into the hatchway and pulled the heavy wooden panel shut above my head, locking the manual steel deadbolt from the inside just as the first heavy boot shattered the cabin's front door upstairs.
