Chapter 25
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I slammed the phone down and turned to Mike. The relaxed, confident demeanor of my head of security was entirely gone, replaced by the lethal focus of a man preparing for a violent siege.
"Thorne is en route," I ordered, my voice echoing sharply in the small control room. "He is desperate, he is likely armed, and he has absolutely nothing to lose. Sound the internal lockdown alarm. Nobody moves from the reinforced safe room."
Mike slammed his hand onto the red emergency button on the console. A low, pulsing alarm began to sound throughout the interior of the sanctuary, a sound we regularly drilled for but hoped we would never actually hear.
I grabbed my heavy tactical flashlight and a legally registered, twelve-gauge pump-action shotgun from the biometric gun safe beneath the desk. I wasn't a violent man by nature, but I was the absolute protector of my family and the women who sought shelter under my roof. I chambered a round, the heavy metallic clack cutting through the tension in the room.
I sprinted down the hallway toward the safe room. Amy was already there, calmly guiding Nora, Sam, and the other residents into the heavily fortified bunker that doubled as our severe weather shelter.
"Connor," Amy said, stepping out of the bunker for a brief second to look at me. Her eyes dropped to the shotgun in my hands, a silent acknowledgement of the terrifying reality we were facing.
"The feds are raiding his empire at dawn," I told her quickly, keeping my voice low. "Thorne knows it's over. He is coming here to exact revenge on Nora before he runs."
"State Troopers?" Amy asked, her voice steady and fiercely brave.
"Thirty minutes out," I confirmed. "Lock this heavy steel door, Amy. Do not open it for anyone but me or Detective Vance. I love you."
"I love you too," Amy whispered, kissing me fiercely before stepping back inside and pulling the massive steel door shut. The heavy deadbolts engaged with a series of loud, definitive clicks.
They were safe. Now, I had to ensure the monster never reached them.
I ran back toward the main foyer, joining Mike just as the perimeter alarm on the main gate shrieked violently.
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"He's here," Mike announced, pointing at the security monitor.
Through the torrential rain and the infrared camera feed, a massive, black SUV slammed violently into our reinforced steel gates. The vehicle didn't stop. It reversed, its tires spinning wildly in the mud, and accelerated forward, ramming the gates again with terrifying, suicidal force.
