Chapter 12 - Arriving At The Massive Wrought-Iron Gates At Midnight
The midnight rain lashed furiously against the armored windows of the Maybach as the motorcade wound through the dark mountain roads.
Two police cruisers with flashing amber lights led the convoy, clearing the winding highway toward the secluded Berkshire estate.
In the backseat, little Lily slept peacefully against her mother’s shoulder, exhausted by the emotional whirlwind of the evening.
Arthur peered out the window into the dense forest surrounding the private access road, his hand resting on his hidden sidearm.
“We’re almost there, Elena... just another five minutes through the lower security gates,” Arthur said reassuringly.
Up ahead, the massive wrought-iron gates of the Berkshire estate loomed out of the fog, illuminated by high-voltage security floodlights.
James slowed the Maybach to a halt, waiting for the advance guard to punch the digital access code into the keypad terminal.
Instead of opening smoothly, the iron gates remained firmly locked, and the security floodlights suddenly blinked off entirely.
“Mr. Sterling, we have an unexpected systems failure at the primary gate entrance,” the lead security vehicle reported over the radio.
Arthur’s heart skipped a beat as a cold spike of adrenaline surged through his veins.
“That’s not a systems failure; the power grid has been manually overridden from an internal terminal,” Arthur realized instantly.
Before the security guards could exit their vehicles to check the manual release, a row of armed men stepped out from the tree line.
They wore black tactical gear without insignia, raising high-powered assault rifles directly toward the front bumper of the police cruiser.
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“Ambush! Reverse the convoy immediately!” Arthur shouted into the intercom, grabbing his phone to call Officer Miller.
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