Chapter 5 - The Breach
The world exploded in a symphony of shattering glass and concussive blasts.
Flashbang grenades shattered the dining room windows, filling the air with blinding white light and deafening sound. My mother screamed, throwing her arms over her eyes.
I didn't hesitate. I dropped to the floor, crawling frantically out of the dining room as the front doors were blown off their hinges by Keller’s tactical breach team.
"Federal agents! Drop your weapons!" a voice boomed over a megaphone.
Gunfire erupted in the foyer. The cartel mercenaries weren't going down without a fight. The house I grew up in was instantly transformed into a warzone. Drywall shredded, vases shattered, and the smell of cordite filled the air.
I scrambled down the hallway toward the den.
The mercenary who had been guarding Sarah rushed out into the hall, raising his weapon toward the front door.
I grabbed a heavy bronze bust of Abraham Lincoln from a side table and swung it with everything I had. It connected with the side of the mercenary's head with a sickening crack. He crumpled to the floor, unconscious.
I threw open the den doors. It was empty.
"Sarah!" I yelled.
I sprinted toward the basement door. It was wide open. I threw myself down the wooden stairs, my heart pounding in my throat.
At the bottom of the stairs, the heavy steel door of my father's customized panic room was sealed shut.
"Sarah! It's me!" I pounded on the steel.
The heavy locks clicked, and the door swung open. Sarah was inside, shaking violently, with the twins tucked behind her.
"Elias!" she sobbed, pulling me inside.
I locked the steel door behind us, leaning my forehead against the cold metal. Upstairs, the gunfire slowly ceased, replaced by the heavy boots of federal agents securing the perimeter.
May you like
My phone buzzed. It was Keller.
"We have the house," she said. "But your mother is gone. She slipped out through a subterranean tunnel connected to the greenhouse. We're tracking her now."
