Chapter 16 - The Siege of Margaret House
The screech of tearing tires ripped through the howling wind outside.
From the front lawn, high-powered halogen beams illuminated the parlor windows, blinding the room in stark, violent white light. Three black armored SUVs had breached the security gates of Margaret House, crushing the rose gardens under heavy tread.
"Down! Get down!" Marcus bellowed, shoving Claire and Vanessa to the floor just as the front windows exploded inward in a hail of shattered glass and suppressed gunfire.
Tear gas canisters hissed across the hardwood floors, spewing thick, acrid smoke that burned Claire's lungs. Coughing violently, Claire reached for Vanessa's wrist, dragging her beneath the shelter of the heavy walnut sideboard.
"Where is she?!" Vanessa choked out, tears streaming from her chemical-burned eyes. "Where did she go?"
Through the billowing white smoke, Claire caught a glimpse of the woman who claimed to be Margaret slipping effortlessly toward the servants’ passage behind the library—a passage only someone who knew the original blueprints of the Whitmore manor could possibly navigate.
Heavy tactical boots crunched over the shattered glass in the foyer.
"Secure the perimeter!" a deep, gravelly voice barked through the smoke. "The girl with the pendant is priority target alpha. Neutralize the lawyer on sight."
Marcus fired two rounds toward the doorway, buying them seconds. "The storm cellar!" he hissed, his face streaked with sweat and soot. "Go! Through the kitchen pantry! Now!"
May you like
Claire didn't hesitate. She grabbed Vanessa by the collar, hauling her sister through the smoke-filled corridor while gunfire chewed through the century-old wood paneling above their heads.
***
