CHAPTER 4 – THE SECRET BENEATH THE SNOW
CHAPTER 4 – THE SECRET BENEATH THE SNOW
The reinforced blast door exploded inward.
Flames burst through the corridor.
Chunks of steel crashed against the concrete walls.
Masked gunmen stormed into the tunnel.
The first attacker barely took two steps before Emmett fired.
One shot.
Center mass.
The man collapsed instantly.
The narrow tunnel erupted into deafening chaos.
Gunfire flashed like lightning in the darkness.
Concrete splintered.
Smoke thickened.
Emmett advanced instead of retreating.
Every movement was controlled.
Every shot deliberate.
His men followed without hesitation.
Within seconds, four attackers lay motionless.
The rest fell back.
Tommy caught one alive by tackling him against the wall.
He ripped away the man's mask.
A familiar face.
One of the estate's own security guards.
Tommy stared in disbelief.
"Connor?"
The man laughed despite the blood running down his face.
"You really thought Victor couldn't buy someone?"
Emmett walked toward him.
"How long?"
Connor smiled.
"Three years."
Silence.
Three years.
The betrayal reached deeper than anyone had imagined.
Connor coughed blood onto the floor.
"You lost before tonight ever started."
Emmett crouched in front of him.
"What does Victor want from Diana?"
Connor laughed again.
"You still don't know?"
"He doesn't want Diana."
"He wants what she stole."
Emmett's eyes narrowed.
"The ledger."
Connor shook his head.
"No."
"The ledger is worthless."
Tommy frowned.
"Then what?"
Connor looked directly at Emmett.
"The child."
For the first time that night...
Emmett's expression changed.
Connor whispered with his final breath,
"Luna..."
"...is the key."
Before anyone could ask another question—
A sniper's bullet pierced Connor's forehead through the broken tunnel entrance.
Instant death.
The shooter had eliminated his own man.
No witnesses.
No loose ends.
Emmett looked toward the darkness.
Victor was still several moves ahead.
Meanwhile...
In the warehouse...
Victor watched live drone footage of the attack.
One of his lieutenants approached.
"The first team failed."
Victor wasn't surprised.
"And the second?"
"They're inside the lower tunnels."
Victor smiled faintly.
"They only need thirty more seconds."
The lieutenant hesitated.
"Boss..."
"If Luna really is..."
Victor slowly turned.
The man immediately fell silent.
Victor finished his sentence himself.
"Yes."
"She is."
He looked at Diana, who had overheard everything.
Tears streamed silently down her bruised face.
Victor crouched beside her.
"You should have told Emmett the truth."
Diana whispered,
"He would never have believed me."
Victor smiled.
"Oh..."
"I think he's about to."
Back at the estate...
Mrs. Ingrid finally reached the deepest panic chamber.
She entered a code.
The massive vault door opened.
Inside was a secure room designed to withstand bombs.
Luna sat quietly on a chair.
She wasn't crying anymore.
Instead, she reached into the pocket of her worn winter coat.
"I forgot..."
Mrs. Ingrid looked over.
"What is it?"
Luna pulled out a tiny silver locket.
"I was supposed to give this to Mr. Cross."
Mrs. Ingrid frowned.
"You've had that all along?"
Luna nodded.
"Mom said..."
"...only after the bad men found us."
Mrs. Ingrid took the locket carefully.
It felt unusually heavy.
There was no hinge.
No clasp.
Just a tiny fingerprint sensor hidden beneath the engraving.
Emmett arrived moments later.
"What is it?"
Mrs. Ingrid handed it to him.
"Luna says Diana wanted you to have this."
Emmett turned the locket over.
His thumb accidentally brushed the sensor.
A soft click echoed.
The silver casing unfolded—not into a necklace...
But into an encrypted micro-storage device.
A tiny projector activated automatically.
Blue light filled the room.
Then a recording appeared.
Diana.
Alive.
Exhausted.
Looking directly into the camera.
"If you're seeing this..."
"...I'm probably already gone."
She swallowed hard.
"Emmett..."
"Luna isn't just my daughter."
Emmett felt the room grow cold.
"I never lied when I said she didn't have a father."
"I lied about something much worse."
She closed her eyes before forcing out the truth.
"Seven years ago..."
"...Victor Brennon kidnapped a newborn baby."
"He murdered her parents."
"He planned to sell her overseas to settle a political debt."
"I stole that baby."
"I ran."
"I raised her as my own."
"Luna's real parents..."
Diana's voice broke.
"...were the only two people who possessed evidence powerful enough to destroy every corrupt politician, judge, police commander, and crime boss connected to Victor's organization."
The image flickered.
One final sentence remained.
"Victor doesn't want revenge."
"He wants the identity of the child..."
"...because Luna is the last living heir to an empire of secrets worth billions."
The recording ended.
No one spoke.
Outside, the gunfire suddenly stopped.
The silence was even more terrifying.
Then every light in the estate went dark.
From somewhere deep beneath the mansion...
A slow clap echoed through the tunnels.
One...
Two...
Three.
Victor Brennon's voice drifted out of the darkness.
"Excellent."
May you like
"Now..."
"Let's finally meet face to face."
