Chapter 16 - The Hidden Passages
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The two remaining assassins laid down a suppressive blanket of fire, chipping away at the marble column protecting Victor and Emma. They were advancing slowly, moving methodically to close the kill zone.
Victor fired back, forcing them to duck, but he was down to his last few rounds.
“Victor, the servant’s passage!” Emma yelled over the gunfire.
Victor looked at her, confused. “What passage?”
“Behind the decorative fireplace on this balcony,” Emma said quickly, pointing to a massive, unused stone hearth built into the exterior wall of the manor. “It connects to the old laundry chutes. Harold used it to smuggle wine. I found it last week!”
Victor didn’t ask questions. He trusted her entirely.
“When I shoot, you run for the hearth. Push the left lion carving,” Victor commanded.
He stepped out from behind the pillar, exposing himself to enemy fire, and unloaded his pistol in a rapid, deafening burst. The assassins dove behind the planters.
Emma sprinted across the balcony, bullets whizzing past her head. She slammed into the stone hearth, frantically pushing the carved stone lion on the mantle. With a heavy click, a hidden door swung open in the back of the fireplace.
Emma dove into the pitch-black, narrow tunnel. Victor was right behind her, slamming the stone door shut just as bullets impacted against the other side.
They were plunged into absolute darkness. The air smelled of dust and old mortar.
Victor grabbed Emma’s hand, his grip tight and protective. “Lead the way.”
Emma navigated the dark passage by memory, pulling Victor through the claustrophobic stone corridors built for servants a century ago. They climbed down a narrow, spiraling iron staircase, moving deep into the bowels of Blackwood Manor.
“Julian will be in the security hub in the sub-basement,” Victor whispered as they moved. “If he jammed the radios, he’s controlling the central feed. He’ll use the cameras to guide the rest of the hitmen to Marco.”
“Then we go to the hub,” Emma said, her voice shaking but resolute.
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They reached a heavy metal door at the bottom of the stairs. Emma pushed it open. They stepped out into the brightly lit, sterile corridors of the sub-basement security wing.
They had bypassed the hitmen entirely.
