Chapter 5: The Ambush at Old Oak Road
The storm hit northern Virginia with full force at midnight. Heavy rain lashed against the windshield of Sarah’s F-150 as she and David navigated the winding, unlit backroads leading to the Miller estate. The estate was dark, its sprawling perimeter usually illuminated by floodlights now completely blacked out.
"They cut the power," David noted softly, adjusting his night-vision goggles. "Classic breach-and-clear tactic. Thorne's private security detail is already inside."
Sarah didn't hesitate. She killed the truck's headlights, coasting silently into the dense woods bordering the property. Dressed in dark tactical gear, she checked her sidearm, her heart beating with the steady, calm rhythm of a seasoned soldier going into battle.
"We go through the servant's entrance near the cellar," Sarah instructed quietly. "We secure the black journal from the attic, plant the digital tracker on Vivian’s main server, and get out in under six minutes. No lethal force unless necessary."
They moved through the rain like shadows, bypassing the broken lock on the patio door where Sarah had rescued her grandmother hours earlier. The house smelled of smoke—not woodsmoke from the fireplace, but the acrid smell of burning paper. Vivian’s men were already systematically destroying files in the library.
Slipping up the narrow, creaking servant stairs to the third-floor attic, Sarah navigated by memory. She opened a heavy dust cover revealing an old cedar trunk containing her father's officer uniforms. Her trembling fingers reached into the inner breast pocket of his crisp dress greens.
Her hand closed around a small, leather-bound black journal wrapped in water-resistant plastic. Beside it sat a high-density black flash drive.
"Got it," Sarah whispered.
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Suddenly, the harsh beam of a tactical flashlight illuminated the narrow attic door.
"Drop the drive, Sergeant!" a loud, authoritative voice barked from the shadows. Two heavily armed private security contractors stepped into the room, their weapons raised directly at Sarah's chest. Standing right behind them, wearing an expensive trench coat over her red dress, was Vivian.
