Part 15
The command room of the Sanctuary was filled with the low hum of computer servers and the flickering glow of dozens of security monitors.
Hector stood in the center of the room, his face grim as he stared at the main tactical display.
Emma walked in, holding Leo tightly against her shoulder. "What's going on?"
"Look at the perimeter sensors," Hector said, pointing to the screen.
The map of the surrounding forest was covered in flashing yellow dots.
"Movement?" Emma asked, her throat tightening.
"Not just movement. Professional deployment," Hector explained. "They’re using thermal cloaking blankets to mask their signatures, but our ground vibration sensors are picking them up. They’re positioning themselves in a classic encirclement pattern."
"How did they find us?" Emma demanded, her voice rising in panic. "You said this place was a secret."
"It was," Hector growled, his hand resting on his sidearm. "But if Marco was the leak, he had access to the legacy files. He knew about the construction logs from five years ago. He sold the coordinates to Volkov."
"Can we escape?"
"The underground garage leads to the access road, but they’ve already blocked the exit with fallen trees," Hector said, turning to look at her. "We can't outrun them in the vehicles. We have to hold the fort."
Suddenly, the monitors displaying the surface perimeter flickered and went black.
The outdoor security cameras had been shot out.
"They're moving in," Hector barked into his radio. "All units, red alpha! Engage targets on the perimeter! Protect the lower level at all costs!"
From the upper level of the cabin, the muffled sound of gunfire began to echo down through the concrete ceiling.
The heavy, deep thud of high-caliber rifles.
Emma felt a wave of absolute terror wash over her.
They were buried underground, surrounded by an army of Russian assassins, and Adrian was hours away in Chicago.
"Ms. Brooks," Hector said, his voice calm but urgent. He walked over to a heavy, reinforced steel hatch in the corner of the command room. "This is the secure vault. It has its own oxygen supply and a blast door that can withstand a military-grade explosive. You take the boy and you lock yourself inside."
"What about you?" Emma asked, looking at the massive man.
"I am the shield," Hector said, a fierce, primal glint appearing in his eyes. "No one gets to the boy while I am breathing. Move!"
Emma didn't argue. She stepped down into the dark, compact vault.
Hector reached down and grabbed the heavy wheel of the blast door, slamming it shut.
The mechanical locks engaged with a series of deep, metallic clunks that sounded like the closing of a tomb.
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Total darkness enveloped her, before the dim, red emergency lights inside the vault flickered on.
She was entirely alone with the baby, listening to the faint, terrifying vibration of a war raging above her head.
