Chapter 9 - The Fire in the Hall
With my heart pounding wildly in my throat, I slipped quietly out of the linen closet on the opposite side of the hallway, away from Leo's room. On a small antique side table sat a decorative oil lamp, fueled and ready for use. Without a second thought, I struck a match, touched it to the cotton wick, and hurled the glass base directly against the heavy velvet drapes flanking the grand staircase.
Within seconds, the fabric ignited in a bright, roaring sheet of orange flame, blocking the primary stairwell and filling the corridor with thick, curling smoke.
"Fire! Fire on the east wing!" one of the intruders shouted, panic suddenly breaking through their cold, tactical discipline.
The commotion worked instantly. The men abandoned their sweep of the guest rooms, rushing toward the blazing hallway to try and contain the fire before it trapped them on the upper floor. In the confusion, I slipped like a ghost down the service stairs at the back of the house, my mind racing as I grabbed my phone to dial Julian’s private, encrypted number.
He answered on the very first ring, his voice sharp and breathless. "Sadie? Talk to me."
"They're inside," I gasped, sprinting through the darkened kitchen toward the rear exit. "Intruders. They're looking for Leo. I set the drapes on fire to draw them away from the bedrooms, but they're armed, Julian, and they're clearing the house!"
A chilling, deathly silence hung on the line for a fraction of a second, followed by a sound so terrifying it made my blood run cold—the sound of Julian cocking a weapon inside his moving car.
"Get to the panic room in the basement, Sadie. Take Leo with you now," Julian commanded, his voice stripped of every human emotion, leaving only the lethal, merciless don of the underworld. "Do not let them see you. I am four minutes away. Anyone who touches that house tonight... leaves in a body bag."
The line clicked dead.
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I didn't waste a second. I raced back up the service stairs, ignoring the burning smoke stinging my eyes, and unlocked Leo’s room. The boy was wide-eyed and shaking, huddled in the corner just as I had instructed.
"We have to move, Leo. Now," I said, scooping him up into my arms and carrying him down toward the hidden basement shelter behind the wine cellar as the sirens of approaching vehicles began to wail in the distance.
