Chapter 8
The subterranean tunnels beneath the estate were damp and freezing, smelling of bleach and old earth. Above them, the muffled thud of explosives and gunfire continued to shake the foundation, sending dust drifting down from the concrete ceiling.
Audrey moved with urgent purpose, her black maid's shoes making no sound on the floor. She carried Felix on her hip now, the six-year-old burying his face in her neck, too terrified to cry.
“Are we almost at the exit, Audrey?” Bastian asked in a low whisper, his eyes scanning the darkness behind them, his sidearm raised.
“Just past the boiler room, sir. There’s a reinforced steel door that leads out to the eastern ravine,” Audrey whispered back, her breathing labored from the weight of the child.
They reached the heavy iron door of the boiler room. Silas, pale and sweating from blood loss, leaned heavily against the wall. Audrey shifted Felix to her other hip and reached for the heavy latch. It was locked from the outside.
“It’s bolted,” Audrey panicked slightly, rattling the heavy iron handle. “Security must have locked down the sub-levels when the alarms tripped.”
“Silas, do you have your master override keys?” Bastian asked, stepping forward to examine the heavy digital padlock.
“They took them... when I got hit,” Silas gasped, sliding down the wall to a sitting position. “Boss, I’m slowing you down. Leave me here. I’ll buy you time if they come down the shaft.”
“Would I ever leave one of my own men behind, Silas?” Bastian asked, his voice sharp with reprimand.
He turned his attention back to the keypad. It was a heavy-duty military-grade lock. Shooting it would only trigger a deadbolt failsafe.
Audrey set Felix down gently. “Close your eyes, Felix. Count to thirty for me.”
She stepped up to the keypad. From the pocket of her black dress, she pulled out a small, metallic hairpin. Before Bastian could question her, she bypassed the digital interface entirely, wedging the pin into the manual override cylinder beneath the scanner. With a swift, practiced twist of her wrist, a loud click echoed in the tunnel.
The heavy iron door swung open.
Bastian stared at her. The emergency lighting cast long, harsh shadows across his angular face. The loose strands of hair on his forehead gave him an untamed edge. “Where did a pharmaceutical researcher's daughter learn to pick a biometric deadbolt in under ten seconds, Audrey?”
Audrey didn’t meet his eyes. She quickly picked Felix back up. “When you work in a house with this many secrets, Mr. Wells, it pays to know how to open locked doors. We need to go.”
Bastian didn't press her. Not yet. He hauled Silas up by his good arm, slinging the heavy man over his shoulder with minimal effort. “Shall we take the ravine path to the armored vehicles?”
They stepped out into the freezing night air. The estate above them was ablaze, the beautiful luminous aesthetic swallowed by violent orange flames. Audrey didn’t look back. She ran into the treeline, following Bastian as he navigated the steep, rocky descent toward the hidden extraction point.
Hidden beneath a canopy of dense oaks sat a matte-black, heavily armored SUV. Bastian threw the keys to Audrey.
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“Can you drive a vehicle this heavy, Audrey?” he asked, loading Silas into the back seat.
“Get in, sir,” Audrey commanded softly, sliding behind the wheel and firing up the roaring V8 engine.
