Chapter 7
Hector didn't pause to calculate the odds.
He lunged forward, grabbed the magnetic breaching charge with his bare hands, and ripped it away from the vault’s reinforced hinges. The industrial magnets fought back with vicious resistance, tearing the skin along his knuckles, but Hector wrenched the brick of high explosives free with a roar of pure adrenaline.
00:03... 00:02...
He spun and hurled the charge down the hallway toward the master bedroom balcony.
"Get down!" he bellowed, diving flat against the corridor floor, covering his head with his forearms.
BOOM.
The shockwave blasted through the second floor, blowing out every remaining window in the master wing and sending a torrential wave of hot air, pulverized drywall, and splintered glass screaming down the corridor. The concussive force rattled Hector’s teeth in his skull, filling his ears with a piercing, deafening whine.
Hector rolled onto his knees, shaking the debris from his hair and overcoat. Through the haze of burning cordite and smoke, he scrambled back to the vault door.
The heavy steel plate was scorched black, but the deadbolts had held.
"Maiselle!" Hector slammed his open palm against the steel. "Maisie, it’s Daddy! Can you hear me?"
Inside, the vault was pitch black save for the battery-powered backup monitors. A muffled, terrified cry answered from within.
"Daddy!" Maiselle’s voice was high, trembling, barely audible through the three inches of insulation. "Daddy, the lights went away!"
"Stand back from the door, sweetheart!" Hector shouted. "Move to the far corner by the sofa! Put your hands over your ears!"
Hector didn't have the biometric scanner anymore. He drew a heavy steel master key from the secret pocket sewn into the lining of his trousers—a failsafe mechanical bypass known only to him. He inserted the long, notched key into the concealed keyhole beneath the Ravenswick crest plate and twisted it with all his strength.
The heavy steel gears inside the mechanism ground together, groaning against the warped frame, before clicking free. Hector threw his shoulder against the door and shoved it open.
Inside, Maiselle was curled into a tiny ball on the leather couch, clutching his antique gold pocket watch to her chest with both hands like a shield. Her face was streaked with tears and soot, her eyes wide as saucers in the dim emergency red light.
The moment she saw his silhouette in the doorway, she launched herself into his arms with a desperate, breathless sob.
"Daddy! You came back! You counted to five hundred!"
Hector caught her against his chest, wrapping his arms around her small, fragile frame so tightly he could feel her tiny heart fluttering against his ribs like a trapped bird. He buried his face into her hair, breathing in the scent of baby shampoo beneath the heavy stench of gunpowder and fire.
"I’m here, baby," Hector whispered, his voice cracking with an emotion he had suppressed for fifteen years of underworld warfare. "Daddy’s here. Nobody is ever going to touch you. I swear to God."
He pulled his overcoat off and wrapped it entirely around her, lifting her so she was securely braced against his left side, leaving his right hand free to wield his weapon.
"Keep your head down on my shoulder, Maisie," he said softly. "Don't open your eyes until I say so. We’re going on a little trip."
"Okay, Daddy," she whispered, burying her face into his neck.
Hector stepped out of the ruined vault into the smoke-choked hallway. Cassian appeared at the top of the stairs, his tactical vest spattered with blood, holding an assault rifle with the barrel smoking hot.
"Boss!" Cassian shouted, his breath ragged. "The terrace is clear! We took down eight of Carmine’s men in the dining hall, but there are more coming up the main drive! They’ve got the front gates blocked with armored SUVs!"
"Where is Julian?" Hector demanded, his eyes burning through the smoke.
"Tied up in the kitchen with Odette. What are your orders?"
Hector adjusted Maiselle against his chest, his jaw setting like concrete. "Bring them both to the motor vaults beneath the west wing. We’re taking the subterranean tunnel to the marina."
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"And the guests, Boss?"
Hector’s eyes were cold, pitiless, and ancient. "Tell the guests to go home and tell Don Carmine that Hector Ravenswick survived his poison. And tell them to pray that tomorrow never comes."
