Chapter 4 - When the House Went Dark.
Darkness swallowed the library so completely that Sophie screamed.
Vivian found her instantly and pulled her against her chest.
“Mommy’s here.”
Ethan drew his weapon.
“No one move.”
Caldwell whispered from somewhere near the fireplace.
“The estate has a backup generator.”
Vivian listened to the silence.
“It should have activated already.”
A burst of gunfire erupted in the foyer.
Someone shouted.
Then came the unmistakable sound of a body hitting the marble floor.
Ethan moved toward the door.
Vivian caught his sleeve.
“You open that and you could bring them straight to Sophie.”
“They already know we are in here.”
“How?”
Ethan did not answer.
A flashlight beam swept beneath the library door.
A voice from the hallway called out.
“Federal protection detail, open the door.”
Caldwell immediately shook his head.
“That is not one of mine.”
Vivian’s pulse accelerated.
The voice came again.
“Secretary Caldwell, we are extracting you.”
Caldwell moved closer to Vivian.
“No one was authorized to call me secretary on this operation.”
The handle turned slowly.
Vivian handed Sophie to Caldwell.
“Hold her.”
Caldwell hesitated.
“Vivian—”
“Hold my daughter.”
He obeyed.
Vivian moved beside Ethan and took the heavy iron poker from the fireplace.
The door burst inward.
A man in tactical gear entered with his rifle raised.
Ethan fired once.
The intruder dropped before he could squeeze the trigger.
Two more men rushed the doorway.
Vivian slammed the poker across the first man’s wrist and drove him into the bookcase.
Ethan tackled the second into the hall.
Caldwell pulled Sophie behind the stone fireplace column.
Within seconds, the library smelled of dust, gun oil, and scorched wood.
Vivian stripped a communication headset from the unconscious intruder.
There was no federal insignia beneath his outer vest.
Ethan checked the man’s identification pouch.
“Private contractor.”
“Which company?” Vivian asked.
He held up the card.
“Solace Dynamics.”
Caldwell closed his eyes.
Vivian noticed.
“You know them.”
“They hold several defense logistics contracts.”
“That sounded carefully worded.”
Caldwell looked at her.
“They also appear in Nathan’s missing ledger.”
Vivian felt Sophie tug at her uniform.
“Mommy, that man was upstairs before.”
Vivian froze.
“What man?”
Sophie pointed at the contractor on the floor.
“He came to my room when Daddy was gone.”
“When?”
“Before Daddy’s car got fire.”
Vivian crouched.
“What did he do?”
“He looked for Bunny.”
Ethan and Caldwell exchanged a glance.
Vivian saw it.
“You both knew someone searched this house.”
Caldwell answered quietly.
“We suspected it.”
“You let me stay here with my child.”
“We thought the house was being watched, not penetrated.”
Vivian’s voice broke with fury.
“You thought wrong.”
A low mechanical hum suddenly started beneath the floor.
The backup generator came alive.
Emergency lights flickered red along the hallway.
Ethan touched his earpiece.
His expression changed.
“What?” Vivian demanded.
He looked at Caldwell.
“The men outside were not tracking Vivian.”
Caldwell’s face tightened.
“Then who?”
May you like
Ethan raised his eyes.
“You.”
