CHAPTER 16: THE VOICE IN THE VAULT
CHAPTER 16: THE VOICE IN THE VAULT
I dropped to my knees in the center of the living room, tearing back the heavy wool rug.
Beneath the polished hardwood floorboards sat the manual layout grandpa had secretly noted in his original journal. I pressed the brass seam on the third joist.
Click.
A heavy, spring-loaded hatch swung downward, exposing a narrow wooden ladder leading into a concrete storm cellar beneath the house foundation.
“Chelsea, take Maisie down there. Now!” I ordered, guiding my daughter through the dark.
“What about you, Evelyn?” Chelsea demanded, holding the hatch open.
“I’m going to activate the perimeter grid.”
I ran to the main utility closet near the kitchen. Grandpa had wired the house to an independent, closed-circuit battery bank hidden within the stone chimney. I threw the master lever.
The external security floodlights instantly roared to life, bathing the entire lawn in a blinding, artificial white glare.
A loud, piercing alarm began to scream across the valley, a mechanized siren that could be heard for miles.
Through the window, I saw the three intruders freeze in their tracks, their night-vision goggles completely blinded by the sudden surge of light.
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But they didn't retreat.
The lead operative raised a heavy iron sledgehammer and swung it directly into our wide glass window.
