Chapter 22 - The Stalker in the Pines
A heavy snowstorm began to fall across the Blue Ridge Mountains, covering the pine trees in a thick blanket of white.
Inside the stone lodge, Julian checked the infrared thermal cameras mounted around the property perimeter.
A small heat signature flashed on the screen near the tree line, roughly two hundred yards from the front porch.
Julian grabbed a tactical shotgun from the wall cabinet, slipping a box of shells into his coat pocket.
"Martha, take Lily upstairs to the reinforced panic room and lock the iron deadbolt," Julian ordered quietly.
"Be careful, Mr. Vance," Martha urged, pulling Lily close to her side as they hurried up the wooden stairs.
Julian stepped onto the snow-covered porch, his boots crunching softly against the fresh ice.
He raised the shotgun, scanning the dark pine forest illuminated by the pale moonlight.
A single set of fresh footprints led from the woods directly toward the side entrance of the generator shed.
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Suddenly, the outdoor floodlights flickered twice and died, plunging the snow-covered estate into absolute, suffocating darkness.
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