Chapter 5 - The Gate Alarm
The gate alarm screamed through the mansion at 9:47 p.m., its piercing siren pulsing like an iron heartbeat against the walls.
Gabriel was on his feet in less than a second, his tactical instincts taking control before the sound had even finished echoing through the pantry. He grabbed Maren by the arm, lifting her smoothly to her feet, while pulling Nora into his left arm with practiced, protective ease.
"Stay behind me," Gabriel ordered, his voice shifting back into the cold, sharp command tone of a military officer.
They hurried out of the pantry into the main corridor, where the emergency red perimeter lights were already flashing against the marble walls. Marcus came sprinting down the hall from the East Wing, holding a tactical submachine gun, two heavy-set guards following right behind him.
"What is it?" Gabriel demanded, handing Nora over to Maren, who clutched the child against her chest, her body shaking with adrenaline.
"Main gate breached," Marcus reported rapidly, checking the digital readout on his wrist comms. "A heavy vehicle just rammed the outer iron barriers. The automated bollards deployed, but the vehicle blew through them. We have multiple armed entries on the front driveway."
Maren let out a small, terrified gasp, backing up against the wood-paneled wall, holding Nora so tightly the little girl murmured a confused, sleepy objection.
Gabriel looked at Maren. He saw the sheer, unadulterated terror in her eyes—the exact same fear she had carried the night Nora had walked into his study.
Whatever is coming through that gate—it will have to go through me first.
"Marcus," Gabriel commanded, his voice dropping into a lethal, terrifying quiet. "Take Maren and Nora to the safe room beneath the library. Lock the steel bulkhead doors from the inside. No one opens those doors except me. If anyone else tries to breach the vault, flood the corridor with tear gas and execute them."
"Gabriel, no!" Maren cried out, her hand reaching out to grab his coat sleeve as Marcus tried to usher her away. "Come with us! You can't face them out there alone!"
Gabriel turned to her. In the flashing red light of the emergency sirens, his face looked carved from solid granite, but his eyes were filled with an intense, burning warmth that was meant only for her.
He reached out, his thumb running over her cheek one last time.
"I built this house to protect what belongs to me, Maren," Gabriel said softly, his voice cutting through the screeching alarm. "I am going to end this tonight so that you and Nora can sleep in peace tomorrow."
Before she could answer, he turned to Marcus. "Go. Now!"
Marcus grabbed Maren’s arm, pulling her and Nora down the secret staircase toward the subterranean vault, while Gabriel drew two custom black sidearms from his shoulder holsters, flicking the safeties off with a double click.
He walked down the grand staircase toward the main entrance, his heavy leather boots clicking against the marble floor.
Outside the floor-to-ceiling glass doors, three dark SUVs sat idling on the gravel driveway, their high beams blindingly bright, casting long, menacing shadows across the portico. The heavy iron front doors were suddenly blown off their hinges by a shotgun breaching charge, splintering wood and shattered glass showering across the foyer.
Through the smoke stepped Julian Vance.
He was forty-five, slim, wearing a leather trench coat, holding a silenced pistol in his right hand. Six armed men pushed into the foyer behind him, their tactical rifles raised, sweeping the dark, high-ceilinged room.
"Gabriel!" Julian called out, his voice echoing with a arrogant, mocking cheerfulness. "You've gotten slow in your old age! It took us four minutes to cross your lawn!"
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Gabriel stepped out from the shadows of the grand staircase, standing completely alone in the center of the foyer, two weapons held at his sides, looking down at the seven armed men with an expression of pure, unadulterated contempt.
"You brought six men to my house, Julian?" Gabriel asked quietly, his voice dangerously smooth. "You should have brought an army."
