Chapter 7
The interior of the mansion was a stark contrast to the brilliant sunshine of the terrace. The cool, marble-lined corridors were quiet, the heavy oak doors absorbing the chaos from the garden.
"Keep moving," Corbin instructed, his voice echoing slightly in the vast hallway. He kept his weapon raised, his eyes scanning every intersecting corridor, every shadowed alcove. "The main garage is down the east wing. We take the armored SUV."
"Will they shoot at us?" Willa asked, her breath coming in quick, shallow gasps as she hurried behind him, holding the heavy weight of the sleeping child.
"My father is ruthless, but he is calculating," Corbin said, pausing at a corner to check for guards. "He won't risk a firefight inside the house where the remaining guests can witness it. He’ll try to box us in at the perimeter gates. We have a three-minute window before he organizes a tactical blockade."
Juniper stirred in Willa’s arms, her small hand reaching out to grasp the collar of Willa’s casual dress. "Are we playing hide and seek?" she mumbled, her rosy cheeks pressing against Willa’s shoulder.
"Yes, sweetie," Willa lied smoothly, her voice remarkably calm. "We're playing a game with your dad. We have to be very quiet."
They reached the heavy steel fire door that led to the subterranean garage. Corbin slammed his hand against the biometric scanner. A red light flashed, accompanied by a harsh, buzzing rejection tone.
Corbin cursed under his breath. "He’s already locked me out of the central mainframe. The security system has revoked my access."
"Stand back," Willa said, shifting Juniper onto her left hip. She pulled her smartphone from her pocket with her free hand. "Does the system run on a localized intranet or a cloud-based server?"
Corbin looked at her, surprised by the technical terminology coming from an event planner. "It's a localized localized system. Hardwired to the server room upstairs."
"Good," Willa murmured. She tapped a sequence of commands on her screen, bringing up a terminal interface. "I noticed the catering staff Wi-Fi wasn't segmented from the primary control network when I logged in this morning to check the floral delivery schedule. It’s a sloppy configuration."
Her fingers flew across the digital keyboard with practiced speed. Seconds ticked by. The distant sound of heavy boots echoing down the marble hallway signaled that Orson’s men had entered the house.
"They're coming," Corbin warned, raising his weapon toward the far end of the corridor.
"Got it," Willa announced. She hit the final key.
The red light on the biometric scanner turned a vibrant, welcoming green. The heavy magnetic locks disengaged with a loud, mechanical thud.
Corbin pushed the heavy steel door open, ushering Willa and Juniper into the dimly lit, cavernous expanse of the garage.
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"How did you do that?" Corbin asked, locking the heavy door behind them and jamming a nearby steel pry bar into the handle to secure it.
"I wasn't always an event planner," Willa said, walking briskly toward a line of luxury vehicles. "I used to work cybersecurity for a firm in Manhattan before my sister got sick. Now, which car is bulletproof?"
