Chapter 4 - The Rat in the Trap
The underground panic room was located behind a massive, four-ton bank vault door set into the foundation stone of the estate.
When I reached the lower level, the air smelled of ozone and hot server racks. The emergency red backup lights were pulsing rhythmically, casting long, bloody shadows across the stone floor.
I rounded the corner and saw him.
Marcus Vance was standing before the open master control terminal, frantically typing commands into the keyboard while a leather briefcase packed with bearer bonds and international passports lay open beside him on a metal table.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it," Marcus muttered under his breath, his expensive silk tie loosened around his sweaty neck.
"Looking for an exit, Marcus?"
The voice froze him mid-keystroke.
Marcus slowly turned around. His eyes widened in absolute horror as he saw me standing in the doorway. My hands were stained with soot, my shirt torn, and the assault rifle resting casually across my chest.
"Lorenzo..." Marcus forced a sickly, trembling smile, holding his hands up placatingly. "Thank God. The... the guards went rogue. They tried to take over the system, they locked you in the nursery—I was just trying to bypass the lockdown to save you—"
I didn't speak. I just walked slowly across the concrete floor, the heavy soles of my boots clicking with a rhythmic, inescapable finality.
Marcus backed up until his spine hit the edge of the metal table, knocking his open briefcase to the ground and sending bundles of cash and passports scattering across the floor.
"Wait! Let's talk about this!" Marcus shrieked, his corporate arrogance completely evaporated, replaced by the pathetic whimpering of a trapped animal. "We're partners! We built the Vanguard merger together! Think of the shareholders, think of the empire—"
"You killed my wife," I said quietly.
"It was business! Sophia was going to blow up the entire board—!"
I didn't let him finish. I crossed the remaining distance in a single stride, grabbed him by the silk lapels of his suit jacket, and slammed him against the four-ton vault door with enough force to rattle his teeth.
"You killed my wife," I repeated, my voice dropping into a low, terrifying growl. "And you tried to starve my son to death in his own crib."
"Please..." Marcus choked out, his hands clawing weakly at my wrists. "I'll give you everything. All my shares, all my offshore accounts... just don't kill me."
"Kill you?" A cold, humorless smile touched my lips. "Killing you would be a mercy, Marcus. And mercy is something I ran out of the night Sophia died."
I didn't fire a shot. Instead, I dragged him toward the open vault door, shoved him inside the reinforced concrete cell, and slammed the heavy steel deadbolt shut.
Clang. Clang. Clang.
The mechanical gears locked into place with a permanent, unbreakable seal.
"No! Lorenzo, open this door! You can't leave me in here!" Marcus’s muffled screams echoed through the thick steel. "There's no air! Lorenzo! LORENZO!"
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I pressed my palm against the cool metal surface of the door, listening to his frantic, terrified pounding grow weaker.
"Enjoy the next forty years, Marcus," I whispered into the dark. "You wanted my empire. Now you own a very small, very dark piece of it."
