Chapter 8 - The Trap
Two days later, the storm broke.
Julian Vance, desperate to destroy the original micro-SD card before federal warrants were unsealed, staged a desperate raid. Using corrupt local contacts, Marcus—the street handler who originally held Laya—led a group of armed mercenaries to breach the perimeter of the countryside estate while Ethan was finalizing legal papers in the study.
Alarms blared across the estate. Gunfire echoed near the front gates as Devlin’s security team engaged the intruders.
"Ethan! They cut the power to the perimeter fence!" Devlin radioed. "They're pushing toward the main house!"
Ethan sprinted to Laya's room, grabbing a heavy tactical flashlight and taking her hand. "Come on, Laya. Stay right behind me."
They made their way down the estate's underground emergency tunnel, but Marcus, who knew the layout from a leaked blueprint, kicked open the escape hatch at the tree line, blocking their path with a drawn weapon.
"End of the line, billionaire," Marcus sneered, rain pouring into the tunnel mouth. "Vance pays a lot better than you do."
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Before Marcus could raise his firearm, Ethan didn't hesitate. Driven by pure paternal instinct, Ethan tackled Marcus through the open hatch into the muddy woods. The two men crashed into the wet mud. Ethan disarmed Marcus with a brutal right cross, knocking the weapon into the shadows, and pinned the criminal to the drenched ground.
Devlin and federal agents swooped into the clearing seconds later, subduing the rest of the mercenaries and taking Marcus into custody.
