Chapter 15 - The Glass Symphony
The explosive crash of shattering plate glass detonated through the quiet Lincoln Park neighborhood like a gunshot. High-security double-paned glass showered onto the manicured front lawn, triggering the neighborhood perimeter alarms in a deafening, oscillating wail.
"Take her!" Robert barked, losing all composure.
The first guard lunged toward Claire, but she had already ducked behind the solid oak dining table. Daniel, driven by some final, desperate shred of paternal instinct or guilt, threw himself across the foyer, wrapping his arms around the second guard’s knees. The guard cursed, driving an elbow brutally into Daniel’s spine, sending him sprawling across the broken glass.
"Mom!" Lily’s scream pierced the chaos from the top of the stairwell.
Claire looked up. Lily stood on the landing, clutching a stuffed rabbit, her small face pale with terror.
"Lily, bedroom! Lock the deadbolt! Now!" Claire screamed, grabbing a heavy silver candelabra from the dining room sideboard.
The first guard rounded the corner, reaching for the taser at his hip. Claire didn't hesitate. She swung the heavy silver base with the full weight of her body, striking the man across the cheekbone. Bone cracked. The guard stumbled sideways, roaring in pain, but his sheer mass kept him upright. He lunged again, his heavy hand catching Claire by the throat, pinning her against the wallpapered wall.
Claire clawed at his eyes, her vision tunneling into black dots as his fingers crushed her windpipe.
*Crack.*
The guard’s eyes rolled back. His grip slackened, and he collapsed to his knees, revealing Daniel standing behind him, wielding a marble bookend covered in crimson. Daniel’s lip was split, blood streaming down his chin onto his white dress shirt.
"Run," Daniel wheezed, his chest heaving, his eyes wide and bloodshot. "Claire... take Lily and run through the alley. The Audi keys are in the bowl."
Claire didn't waste a second on forgiveness or gratitude. She sucked in a lungful of air, scooped the car keys from the table, and vaulted up the stairs three at a time.
Robert stood in the foyer below, leaning heavily against the banister, coughing violently, a fleck of dark blood spotting his handkerchief. "You can't leave the city, Claire!" he shouted up the stairwell, his voice ragged and echoing. "Every camera from here to the interstate is running facial recognition! You belong to the Apex registry! You won't make it ten miles!"
Claire reached the landing, kicked open Lily’s door, grabbed her daughter by the wrist, and hoisted her into her arms.
"Hold on to my neck, baby," Claire whispered fiercely into Lily’s hair. "Don't let go, no matter what you hear."
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They didn't take the back stairs. Claire kicked open the laundry chute access that led directly into the attached ground-floor garage—a feature she had hated when they bought the house, now their only escape route that bypassed the front hall entirely.
***
