Chapter 7 - The Breach
Alarms blared across the fifteen-acre property. Red emergency lights flashed in the service corridors as armed intruders flooded the lower level.
Inside the primary living quarters, Elena heard the sudden chaotic commotion and heavy footsteps. Remembering her nursing background and emergency protocols, her instincts took over. She grabbed Sophie, locked their quarters, and rushed toward the estate's panic room hidden behind the third-floor study.
As she sprinted up the grand staircase, two masked gunmen cut off her path from the upper landing.
"Hand over the kid, lady, and nobody gets hurt!" one of the men barked, raising a weapon.
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Elena didn't hesitate. She threw a heavy bronze statue off a pedestal, striking the first gunman and knocking him down the stairs. Shielding Sophie with her body, she sprinted into Lorenzo’s study, slammed the reinforced oak door, and engaged the electronic deadbolts just as bullets splintered the outer panel.
Inside the study, she quickly typed the emergency code Lorenzo had taught her into the hidden wall keypad. The heavy steel door of the panic room slid open, and she bundled Sophie safely inside. Instead of hiding, Elena picked up Lorenzo’s desk sidearm, standing guard at the threshold to protect her child.
