Chapter 18 - The Breach in the Walls
Within minutes, the domestic calm of the estate evaporated, replaced by the razor-sharp efficiency of a high-security bunker under siege. Armed guards in tactical gear secured the main corridors, while Tomas and his core strike team descended into the sub-basement server vaults where the quantum array hummed with a deep, vibrating blue light.
Claire walked swiftly down the grated metal stairs, her long wool coat swinging around her ankles, a matte-black encrypted diagnostic deck clutched in her hand. Luca walked beside her, his hand resting casually near the customized firearm concealed beneath his suit jacket.
"The carrier wave is localized to Sector Four—the legacy communications vault used by your father’s old compliance officers," Tomas reported, jogging up to meet them as they entered the sub-basement. "The physical door was unlocked using an administrative keycard belonging to estate personnel."
"Whose card?" Claire demanded, her green eyes narrowing as she plugged her diagnostic deck directly into the primary terminal rack of Sector Four.
"The head housekeeper," Tomas replied grimly. "She’s worked for the family for twenty years. Her grandson is currently a student at the University of Chicago—funded entirely by an anonymous foundation account that trace-routes back to a shell company in the Caymans owned by the French syndicate."
Luca’s expression darkened into an impenetrable mask of absolute ruthlessness. "Family loyalty bought and paid for by men who are already dead. Bring her down here."
When the elderly housekeeper was brought into the vault, she wasn't screaming or fighting; she looked exhausted, defeated by the weight of a trap that had finally sprung. She was seated at the interrogation console, trembling slightly as she looked up at Luca and Claire standing before her under the harsh white fluorescent lights.
"I didn't want to do it," the woman whispered, tears pooling in her wrinkled eyes. "They said... they said if I didn't plug the micro-transmitter into the terminal, my grandson wouldn't see his next tuition payment. They promised they’d leave us alone."
Claire looked down at her, her expression completely devoid of pity, yet analytical to the core. "You traded an empire’s security for a college tuition, Martha. You’ve been with this family long enough to know that sentimentality is a luxury we stopped affording a very long time ago."
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"What do you want us to do with her, Mr. Moretti?" Tomas asked, his hand resting on his holster.
Luca looked at the trembling woman for a long, agonizing moment before speaking. "Give her a lifetime pension, a first-class ticket out of the country to a destination of her choice, and ensure she understands that if she ever speaks a single word of what she saw in this house, the world will run out of places for her to hide. Then, lock down Sector Four permanently."
