Chapter 5 - The Snake in the House
The attack on the Tacoma distribution center was a diversion.
At two o'clock in the morning, while Victor and his primary security force were twenty miles away securing the docks, a quiet storm hit the Mercer Island estate.
Sadi woke up to the sound of shattered glass echoing from the ground floor.
She sat up instantly in bed, her heart hammering violently against her ribs. The estate was usually dead silent at night, guarded by state-of-the-art security systems and four full-time sentries.
Sadi threw on a silk robe and stepped out into the dark hallway.
“Frank? Leo?” she called out softly into the darkness.
No response.
She moved quietly toward the top of the grand staircase, staying low against the wall. Because she had scrubbed every inch of this mansion for eight months, Sadi knew every creak in the floorboards, every hidden pantry door, and every blind spot in the hallway lighting.
Near the front entrance, two men in dark tactical gear were dragging the unconscious body of Leo, one of the house guards, into a side closet.
Standing near the open front doors was Julian—the estate’s head butler, a man who had worked for the Costello family for six years. He was holding a silenced pistol and a encrypted radio.
“The house is clear,” Julian hissed into his radio. “Voss and his main team are stuck in Tacoma. Get the van around to the side entrance. I’ll bring the Hayes girl down.”
Sadi’s blood ran cold. Julian was the mole.
He hadn't just betrayed Victor; he had given Moretti’s men the access codes to the estate’s perimeter fence. They weren't here to rob the house—they were here to kidnap her to use as leverage against Victor.
Sadi backed away slowly from the railing, her mind racing. She couldn't outrun armed men in a straight chase, and the main landlines had likely been cut.
She slipped silently into Victor’s study.
She knew Victor kept an emergency landline hidden behind the third bookshelf—a line wired directly to his private satellite phone, independent of the house's main box.
She crept behind the mahogany desk, pulled the leather-bound edition of The Count of Monte Cristo, and clicked the red button on the small silver unit hidden behind it.
The phone rang twice before Victor answered, his voice rough over the static.
“Report, Julian,” Victor said, assuming it was his butler calling with a routine update.
“Victor! It’s Sadi!” she whispered frantically, pressing her back against the bookshelf. “Julian betrayed you! There are armed men inside the house—they’ve taken Leo and Frank—they’re looking for me!”
On the other end of the line, a terrifying silence fell, followed by the sound of a engine roaring to life.
“Sadi, listen to me very carefully,” Victor said, his voice deadly calm despite the chaos in the background. “Are you in my study?”
“Yes!”
“Underneath the left drawer of my desk, there is a brass key taped to the wood. Take it. Open the panel behind the fireplace. It leads to a panic room built into the foundation. Lock yourself inside and do not open it for anyone except me. I’m ten minutes away.”
“They’re in the hallway, Victor!” Sadi gasped as footsteps approached the study door.
“Go!” Victor roared through the phone.
Sadi dropped the receiver, reached under the desk, and pulled the brass key free. She sprinted to the stone fireplace, shoved the key into a hidden keyhole disguised as a decorative brick, and twisted it.
The back wall of the hearth slid open with a quiet hiss, revealing a small, reinforced steel room illuminated by green emergency lights.
Sadi threw herself inside just as the heavy oak doors of the study were kicked open.
Julian stepped into the room with his pistol raised, two mercenaries behind him.
“Sadi!” Julian called out, his voice smooth and fake. “Come out, little maid! Mr. Moretti wants to have a word with you!”
Sadi grabbed the heavy iron handle on the inside of the panic room door and pulled it shut with all her strength. The steel door sealed with a heavy pneumatic THUD, locking her inside total safety.
Through the thick glass window of the door, she saw Julian slam his fist against the steel in frustration. He knew he was out of time.
Less than seven minutes later, the lights outside the study flashed red and blue.
The sound of shattering glass and heavy gunfire erupted through the house as Victor’s elite strike force breached the estate.
Sadi sat in the dark panic room, holding her knees, listening as the short, violent firefight ended within three minutes.
Then, the steel door hissed open.
Victor stood there, covered in rain, his eyes wild, his tactical vest stained with mud and gunpowder. He held a smoking shotgun in his hand.
He dropped the weapon to the floor, stepped into the small room, and pulled Sadi up into his arms, crushing her against his chest so hard she could barely breathe.
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“I have you,” Victor growled into her hair, his body shaking with pure, unadulterated adrenaline. “I have you, Sadi.”
Sadi wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her face into his neck, feeling the heavy, frantic thud of his heart against her cheek.
