Chapter 4 - The Siege
The front glass facade of the mansion shattered with a deafening roar. Heavy, tactical boots stomped through the grand foyer.
Nathan dragged Victoria and the boy up the basement stairs, slamming and locking the heavy oak door behind them. He pulled them into his private study, a room lined with mahogany bookshelves and reinforced bulletproof windows.
Through the security monitors on his desk, Nathan watched four heavily armed men in tactical gear moving methodically through the mansion. They weren't common thieves; their movements were military, precise, and lethal.
"They're going to clear the house," Nathan said, his mind shifting into a cold, calculated survival mode. He locked the study's heavy steel-core door.
"Nathan, please," Victoria wept, clutching the frightened boy, though it was unclear if she was protecting the child or using him as a shield. "Give them the boy. We can tell them you agree to the logistics merger. We can survive this."
"Look at him, Victoria!" Nathan yelled, pointing at the child shivering on the leather sofa. "He's a human being! You turned my life into a crime scene, and I am not letting these monsters take another piece of it."
Nathan walked over to his wall safe. He bypassed the digital keypad and used a biometric thumbprint scan. Inside wasn't just cash or bonds; it was a satellite phone given to him by a high-ranking military contact during a government tech contract negotiation years ago.
He dialed a single, encrypted number.
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"This is Nathan Harrington," he said into the receiver. "Asset code Alpha-Omega. My residence is under active tactical assault by an unknown domestic militia. I need immediate extraction and federal intervention. And tell them to bring medical personnel."
The voice on the other end responded with chilling brevity: "Ten minutes out, Mr. Harrington. Hold your ground."
