Chapter 5 - THE MAID’S COURAGE
Down in the lower service corridors, terror reigned.
Elena sprinted through the dark hallways, holding Mia tightly against her chest as the sound of automatic gunfire echoed above them.
A mercenary in a black mask stepped out from around a corner, his rifle beam cutting through the darkness, locking onto Elena.
"Stop right there!" the mercenary barked, raising his weapon.
Elena froze, her body shaking, shielding Mia with her own frame. "Please... she's just a child!"
Before the mercenary could pull the trigger, a shadow dropped from the ceiling air duct above.
Marco landed directly onto the gunman's back, driving a tactical knife into his vest seam, wrestling the weapon away, and dropping the intruder to the floor with a heavy thud.
"Go! To the wine cellar!" Marco panted, pointing down the narrow stone stairs. "Keycode is 1812! Lock the steel doors behind you!"
Elena didn't wait. She bolted down the stone steps into the subterranean wine cellar, punching the six-digit code into the heavy iron keypad. The heavy blast door hummed to life, sliding open into a reinforced bunker equipped with emergency rations and communications.
She rushed inside, holding Mia on her lap as the iron door sealed closed behind them with a heavy hydraulic hiss.
Mia looked up at her mother, her small hands holding the crayon drawing she had retrieved from Luca’s desk during the chaos.
"Mommy... is Uncle Luca going to be okay?" Mia asked softly.
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Elena pulled her daughter close, tears streaming down her face. "Uncle Luca is the strongest man in the world, baby. He won't let them hurt us."
Outside the bunker, Marco turned back toward the grand foyer, locking a fresh magazine into his rifle as three more flashbang grenades detonated upstairs.
