Chapter 4 - The Fire in the West Wing
Chaos erupted across the Vale estate in a matter of seconds.
Emergency red lights began flashing along the ceiling corridors as the internal alarm system detonated its sirens. Heavy steel security shutters slammed down over the main exit doors with thunderous thuds.
Hannah reached the boys' wing just as Lucas, Mason, and Theo burst out of their bedroom in their pajamas, wide-eyed and terrified.
“Hannah!” Mason cried out, grabbing her waist. “What’s happening? Is it the bad men?”
“In here! All of you, inside the bathroom!” Hannah commanded, shoving the three boys into the large marble bathroom attached to their suite. “Lock the door from the inside and don't open it for anyone unless you hear my voice or your father’s voice! Do you understand me?”
“Hannah, don't leave us!” Theo wept, holding onto her hand.
“I’m right outside the door, sweetie. I promise!” she shouted over the blaring sirens.
She slammed the bathroom door shut, heard the lock click, and turned back to the bedroom hallway.
Suddenly, a thick, acrid cloud of black smoke began pouring from the air vents above her head.
Down the hallway, near the central staircase, orange flames erupted with terrifying speed. Julian had not simply tried to escape; he had ignited a chemical fire accelerant in the main electrical breaker room to wipe out the security cameras and create complete panic.
The heat hit Hannah like a physical wall. The smoke thickened instantly, blotting out the emergency lights and turning the luxury hallway into a suffocating, pitch-black furnace.
Hannah coughed violently, pulling her sweater up over her nose and mouth.
“VIKTOR!” she called out, but her voice was swallowed by the roaring crackle of the flames spreading across the dry oak paneling.
Outside the estate, three black SUVs screamed up the circular driveway, spraying gravel in all directions.
Dominic Vale threw his car door open before the vehicle had fully stopped. He had received the automated silent alarm on his phone three minutes ago while returning from the docks.
When he saw thick black smoke billowing from the roof of the west wing, his heart stopped.
“BOSS! NO!” Viktor screamed, grabbing Dominic’s arm as the mafia lord sprinted toward the blazing front entrance. “The main doors are locked by the security system! The fire team is five minutes away!”
Dominic didn't even slow down. He pulled a heavy steel crowbar from the trunk of his SUV, smashed through the side glass terrace doors, and threw himself into the burning, smoke-filled structure.
“LUCAS! MASON! THEO!” Dominic roared, his voice tearing through the smoke as he sprinted up the blazing grand staircase.
The heat melted the rubber soles of his shoes. The air was poisoned with carbon monoxide. Beam after beam of burning timber collapsed around him, but Dominic pressed forward like a demon possessed, his eyes burning with absolute, desperate terror.
He reached the second-floor landing. The west wing hallway was an inferno.
And standing in the middle of that inferno, soaked in water from an overturned vase, holding a wet blanket over her head, was Hannah Reed.
She was pounding on the marble bathroom door, her clothes scorched, her face covered in black soot, coughing so hard she could barely stand.
“OPEN THE DOOR, BABY! IT’S HANNAH!” she was screaming into the crack of the door. “I’M HERE! OPEN THE DOOR!”
Dominic reached her in three massive strides. He grabbed her by the shoulders, pulling her back from the blistering heat of the doorframe.
“HANNAH!” Dominic shouted over the roar of the fire. “WHERE ARE THEY?”
“Inside!” she choked out, tears cutting white tracks through the soot on her cheeks. “They’re inside! I locked them in! The key... the electronic lock jammed when the power died!”
Dominic didn't hesitate. He raised his heavy leg and kicked the reinforced mahogany bathroom door directly at the lock mechanism.
BANG.
BANG.
On the third kick, the heavy door splintered open.
Inside, tucked inside the marble bathtub beneath a pile of wet towels, were the three boys.
“DAD!” Lucas screamed, throwing his arms out.
Dominic scooped all three boys into his massive arms in one fluid movement, pulling them against his chest. But as he turned to run back toward the hallway, he saw Hannah collapse onto her knees near the doorway, overwhelmed by smoke inhalation.
“Hannah!” Dominic yelled.
He set the boys down for a fraction of a second. “Hold onto my belt! All three of you, hold on and don't let go!”
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He bent down, gathered Hannah’s limp form into his arms, and lifted her off the floor.
Carrying the woman who had protected his sons, with his three boys clinging fiercely to his jacket, Dominic Vale charged through the wall of fire, bursting out onto the stone terrace outside just as the fire department air trucks pulled into the driveway.
