Chapter 68 - The Matriarch's Shield
In the suffocating silence of the vault, Eleanor did something that shattered every memory I had held of her for thirty years.
With a ragged, feral scream, the sixty-eight-year-old woman lunged across the metal table. She didn't reach for me, and she didn't plead for herself. She threw her entire weight against Lucian, her manicured hands clawing at his eyes, knocking his arm aside just as the suppressed pistol discharged with a sharp, muted *phut*.
The bullet sparked against the concrete ceiling, raining plaster dust down on us.
"Run, Emma!" Eleanor shrieked, grappling with the much larger man with a frantic, animal fury I had never seen in her. "Take Lily and run! The emergency exit behind the server rack—RUN!"
One of the men behind Lucian stepped forward, his heavy fist striking Eleanor across the cheek, sending her crashing against the steel filing cabinets. Blood sprayed across the gray metal, but she didn't stay down; she grabbed an iron fire extinguisher from the wall mount and swung it with all her remaining strength into the knees of the second henchman.
"Mommy!" Lily screamed, terror overcoming her.
May you like
I didn't hesitate. Grabbing the manila folder and Lily’s arm, I sprinted toward the narrow gap behind the humming server rack. A rusted iron fire door stood bolted from the inside. I threw the heavy latch, kicked the metal door open, and dragged Lily into a pitch-black utility tunnel running beneath the old foundry.
Behind us, gunshots echoed through the concrete chamber, followed by Eleanor’s agonized scream.
