Chapter 12 - Fire on the Water
"Get down!" Thomas roared, diving across the room and pulling Evelyn behind the heavy stone fireplace.
Julian dropped to the floor, wood splinters and drywall raining over his head. The mercenaries weren't trying to negotiate—they were suppressing them while advancing on the porch.
"They're flanking the kitchen!" Evelyn shouted over the deafening noise.
Thomas fired two shots through the shattered front window, forcing one of the gunmen to duck behind an SUV. "Julian, the tunnel! Move!"
Julian crawled toward the pantry, kicking open the false wooden floorboard. A cool, damp draft rose from the dark passage below. "Evelyn, go first!"
Evelyn slipped into the tunnel without hesitation. Thomas fired his remaining rounds, creating a brief lull in the shooting, before sliding down into the darkness beside her. Julian dropped down last, pulling the heavy wood hatch shut and sliding the iron bolt into place just as boots stomped heavily on the floorboards above them.
"They'll breach the hatch in thirty seconds," Thomas panted, flicking on a small tactical flashlight.
The narrow dirt tunnel sloped downward toward the lake. They ran through the damp darkness, their footsteps splashing through shallow puddles, until the tunnel opened up into the boathouse beneath the dock.
Moored inside was an old mahogany speedboat.
"The keys are under the dash," Thomas said, rushing toward the boat's mooring lines.
"Hold it right there."
Julian froze.
Standing on the wooden dock inside the boathouse, illuminated by the sliver of sunlight filtering through the wooden slats, was Margaret.
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She held a small, silver .38 caliber pistol aimed directly at Evelyn’s chest.
"Did you really think I didn't know about the tunnel Thomas built when he was sixteen?" Margaret said, her voice dripping with venomous mockery. "You always were so predictable, Thomas."
