CHAPTER 16 THE VEHICLE ACROSS THE STREET
“Get everyone inside.”
Mara did not question him.
She crossed the kitchen in three fast steps, locked the back door, and pulled the curtains closed.
Daniel hurried into the yard.
“Emily! Rebecca!”
The laughter beneath the maple tree stopped.
Emily saw his expression and immediately stood.
“What happened?”
“Inside. Now.”
Rebecca moved more slowly. Her body was still recovering from the cardiac arrest, and every sudden movement seemed to steal the air from her lungs.
Daniel placed one arm around her waist.
Across the street, the black vehicle reached the corner.
Then it stopped.
Its brake lights burned red through the afternoon sunlight.
Mara appeared in the doorway with a handgun pressed against her leg.
“Dad.”
“I see it.”
The vehicle reversed.
It came back toward the house.
Faster this time.
Emily pulled Rebecca inside while Daniel remained near the steps.
The black vehicle crossed the center line.
It did not slow down.
“Move!” Mara shouted.
Daniel threw himself through the doorway.
The vehicle struck the electrical transformer beside the neighboring driveway.
Metal screamed.
Blue sparks exploded across the street.
Every light inside Daniel’s house went dark.
The refrigerator stopped humming.
The security system died.
A second later, the black vehicle’s doors opened.
No one stepped out.
Instead, four small objects rose from the back seat.
Drones.
They flew toward the house.
“Basement!” Daniel ordered.
One drone shattered the kitchen window.
A silver canister dropped onto the floor.
White vapor began filling the room.
Mara covered her mouth.
“Gas.”
Emily grabbed two towels, soaked them beneath the kitchen faucet, and handed them to her parents.
Rebecca stared at the spreading vapor.
“This isn’t designed to kill us.”
Daniel looked at her.
“How do you know?”
“The color. The smell.”
Her face tightened.
“It’s a neurological suppressant. They want us conscious enough to move, but too weak to resist.”
Three vehicles turned onto the street.
White emergency lights flashed across their roofs.
They looked like ambulances.
But there were no sirens.
Six people in paramedic uniforms stepped onto the pavement.
Each carried a medical bag.
Each wore a black circle divided into twelve sections beneath the collar.
“They’re coming for someone,” Mara said.
Daniel checked the rear hallway.
“No basement. They’ll trap us there.”
A heavy impact shook the front door.
“Federal medical response!” a voice called. “Open the door!”
Mara raised her weapon.
“Federal teams don’t arrive thirty seconds after an electrical explosion.”
The front lock shattered.
Daniel pulled Rebecca behind the kitchen island as the first attacker entered.
Mara fired once.
The bullet struck the attacker’s shoulder and spun him into the wall.
Two more came through the doorway.
Emily grabbed a metal chair and drove it into the first attacker’s knees. He collapsed, but the second caught her by the throat.
Daniel crossed the kitchen and struck him with the black satellite case.
The attacker released Emily.
Rebecca stepped forward and slammed a glass coffee pot against the side of his head.
The pot shattered.
The attacker fell.
Rebecca looked at Daniel.
“I’m recovering. I’m not helpless.”
A mechanical voice came from outside.
“Gate Seven confirmed. Secondary heirs present.”
Daniel froze.
Gate Seven.
Cross Seven.
Whitmore had been only one section of the circle.
The remaining attackers began entering through the rear windows.
Mara pulled open the pantry door.
“Emily, the floor.”
Emily understood.
She pressed her bloodied palm against a metal plate hidden beneath the lowest shelf.
A section of the pantry floor unlocked.
Daniel stared at her.
“You knew this was here?”
“I found it after the bunker.”
There was no time to argue.
They descended into a narrow concrete passage seconds before bullets tore through the pantry door.
The tunnel ran beneath the house and ended inside an old storm drain behind the neighboring block.
Daniel helped Rebecca climb onto the wet pavement.
Mara emerged last.
She had dragged one of the injured attackers with her.
The man’s mask was gone.
He appeared to be in his early thirties.
Calm gray eyes.
Military haircut.
No fear.
Mara pressed the gun beneath his jaw.
“Who sent you?”
The man smiled.
“Your family sent for itself.”
“Which family?”
“All of them.”
Daniel crouched beside him.
“You said Gate Seven was confirmed.”
“The seventh gate fell.”
The man looked directly at Daniel.
“The succession protocol has begun.”
“Why are you watching my house?”
“We weren’t watching the house.”
His eyes moved toward Rebecca.
“We were waiting for the original source to return.”
Daniel grabbed his uniform.
“Rebecca?”
The attacker laughed softly.
“No.”
His gaze shifted back to Daniel.
“You.”
Before Mara could stop him, the man bit down.
A capsule cracked between his teeth.
His body convulsed.
Blood ran from his mouth.
Daniel tried to keep him conscious.
“Why am I the original source?”
The dying man’s expression became peaceful.
“Because your daughter was never the master key.”
His final breath escaped.
“You were.”
Above them, the house alarm suddenly returned to life.
But it was no longer sounding an emergency warning.
May you like
A calm electronic voice repeated one sentence through every speaker.
“Original source located.”
