Chapter 21 - A Breach of Peace
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The sound of shattering glass echoed through the hallway as the front windows were blown in.
"Move!" I shouted, shoving Evelyn and Lily toward the basement door.
I sprinted to the garage, throwing open the steel cabinet. I didn't reach for the firearms. I remembered my promise to Evelyn. I reached for the non-lethal countermeasures I had installed years ago for exactly this scenario.
I grabbed a bandolier of flashbang grenades, a high-voltage stun baton, and a remote detonator for the house’s defense grid.
I stepped back into the main hallway just as the front door was kicked off its hinges. Four men in dark tactical gear flooded into the foyer, assault rifles raised.
"Clear the ground floor! Find the girl!" the lead intruder barked.
I pulled the pin on a flashbang and bounced it off the doorframe into the center of the foyer.
"Cover!" one of them yelled, but it was too late.
The grenade detonated with a blinding flash and a deafening crack, instantly incapacitating the squad. They dropped to their knees, clutching their ears and eyes.
I moved in like a shadow, striking with clinical precision. I used the stun baton to drop the first two men, the crackle of electricity filling the air. The third man swung wildly with his rifle stock; I parried the blow, sweeping his legs out from under him and driving my knee into his chest, knocking the wind out of him before stunning him into unconsciousness.
More footsteps thundered on the front porch. Thorne had sent a small army.
I retreated toward the kitchen, hitting the remote detonator. Heavy steel security shutters slammed down over all the first-floor windows and doors, locking the remaining intruders outside.
The house was a fortress, but it wouldn't hold them forever. Sparks began to fly as they fired up blowtorches against the front door's reinforced steel frame.
Vincent emerged from the study, holding the encrypted hard drive.
"The police are ten minutes out," Vincent said, checking his phone. "Thorne must have jammed the local dispatch signals to buy them time."
"They won't need ten minutes," I said, listening to the grinding of the torches. "We need to get out through the old prohibition tunnels in the basement."
We rushed downstairs to the panic room, where Evelyn and Lily were waiting anxiously.
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"The house is compromised," I told them, opening the hidden steel hatch in the floor. "We leave now."
We climbed down into the damp, dark tunnel, leaving the sanctuary of our home behind as Thorne’s men finally breached the ground floor.
