Chapter 14 - AMBUSH ON THE STAIRCASEEmma gasped as she was yanked into a dark utility closet. She prepared to kick and scream, but a large, warm palm gently covered her mouth.
"Shh! Emma, it's me!" a familiar, stern voice whispered in the dark.
Emma opened her eyes. Standing above her, covered in dust and tactical gear, was Alejandro.
Beside him stood three loyal guards who had breached the vault from an internal emergency hatch the moment the power override unlocked the estate's hidden passages.
Emma threw her arms around Alejandro’s neck, sobbing softly into his tactical vest. "Uncle Alejandro! I put the silver thing in the blue hole! The lights came back!"
Alejandro held the child tightly, a rare, genuine emotion breaking through his hardened facade. He kissed her forehead, his eyes burning with fierce pride. "You were incredible, my brave little girl. You saved us again."
BOOM!
A gunshot shattered the lock of the utility closet door. The door burst open, and Lucas stood in the brightly lit hallway, his revolver aimed directly inside.
"FOUND YOU!" Lucas screamed, his face contorted in maniacal rage.
Alejandro shoved Emma behind his back and returned fire instantly. Bullets ripped through the drywall as Alejandro and his men pushed Lucas back into the grand hallway above the main double staircase.
Lucas retreated up the marble stairs, firing wildly while backing toward the floor-to-ceiling glass bancony that overlooked the roaring blizzard outside. His mercenaries were being neutralized one by one by the automated defenses below, leaving him completely isolated.
"It's over, Lucas!" Alejandro shouted, stepping out onto the marble landing, his weapon raised with lethal precision. "Drop the gun. The private military units will be here in five minutes. There is no escape."
Lucas backed up until his heels hit the glass railing of the third-floor balcony. He looked down at the courtyard three stories below, then back at Alejandro, a desperate, hysterical smile spreading across his face.
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"It's never over, Alejandro," Lucas sneered. "If I don't get this empire, nobody does."
Before anyone could react, Lucas didn't aim at Alejandro. He snapped his revolver toward the doorway where Emma had just peeked out, and fired.
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