A WOMAN IN BLUE MEDICAL SCRUBS LANDED BY HELICOPTER AT A WEALTHY FAMILY’S CHRISTMAS PARTY WITH FOUR LITTLE BOYS—AND THE DECORATED MARINE OFFICER WAITING INSIDE WENT COMPLETELY SILENT WHEN HE SAW THEIR FACES. WHO WERE THOSE CHILDREN, AND WHY DID THEY LOOK SO MUCH LIKE HIM? / Chapter 15 / 20

Chapter 15 - The Zurich TrapThree days later. Zurich, Switzerland.

A driving sleet washed over the sleek glass and steel facade of the Vance Global European Headquarters—a thirty-story skyscraper rising above the financial district.

Inside the penthouse executive suite, Julian Vance stood before a wall of glass monitors, watching global stock tickers drop as rumors of the Maine estate fire began to circulate in financial media.

"Sir," his chief technician called out from the central console. "We have a security breach on Level 4—the vault level."

Julian’s eyes widened. "Level 4? That's impossible. That floor requires biometric security clearance!"

"Someone used Captain Lucas Vance’s military master key card," the technician reported frantically. "And... sir, the biometric scanners are registering four identical genetic signatures entering the central terminal corridor!"

Julian’s face twisted into an unhinged, triumphant grin. "He brought them right to me! The fool actually brought the boys to the vault!"

Julian pulled a silver pistol from his desk drawer and turned to Marcus Caldwell, who stood nearby with his arm in a sling. "Get the strike team to Level 4 now! Seal the blast doors behind them! Don't let a single one of them leave alive once the vault opens!"

Down on Level 4, deep beneath the bedrock of Zurich, the heavy steel doors of the Central Data Vault hummed as they locked shut, trapping Lucas, Clara, and the four quadruplets inside the sterile, blue-lit server chamber.

The digital terminal at the center of the room flared to life, its synthetic voice echoing off the reinforced walls:

BIOMETRIC OVERRIDE PROTOCOL INITIATED. SUBJECTS 1, 2, 3, AND 4 REQUIRED AT SCANNERS. TIME REMAINING BEFORE PURGE: 3 MINUTES.

Standing at the far end of the long glass corridor, watching them through bulletproof glass with a squad of armed operatives behind him, was Julian Vance.

"You walked right into my cage, Lucas!" Julian’s voice boomed through the corridor intercom system. "Once those four boys touch those scanners and unlock the vault for me, you and your little doctor are going to die right here!"

Lucas didn't flinch. He looked at Clara, then down at his four sons, who were stepping up to the four glowing glass hand-scanners surrounding the central terminal.