Chapter 5 - Sixty Seconds of Absolute Darkness
I climbed the cellar stairs while Marcus radioed the perimeter tactical teams waiting outside the estate gates.
Upstairs, the party was reaching its crescendo.
The grandfather clock in the grand hallway struck 10:00 PM. Through the double doors of the ballroom, I could see sixty members of New York and Connecticut high society laughing, drinking, and raising their glasses to Arthur Dre, who had just stepped out of the library with a folder of documents in his hands.
Matthias was standing beside his father, a nervous, triumphant grin plastered across his face.
He had a pen in his pocket. He was waiting for Arthur to sign the transfer of management authority.
I walked through the foyer. My dress was dusty from the cellar, but my head was held high.
I walked straight to the main circuit breaker panel concealed inside the coat closet by the front doors.
I grabbed the master trip switch.
And I pulled it down.
Snap.
Instantly, the entire mansion plunged into total, pitch-black darkness.
Screams and gasps echoed through the grand ballroom. Glasses shattered on the parquet floor.
“What happened to the power?” someone shouted.
“Is there a backup generator?”
Before panic could turn into a stampede, the heavy double front doors of the estate were kicked wide open.
Powerful tactical flashlights sliced through the darkness.
Twelve heavily armed federal agents from the Department of Justice, accompanied by state troopers in full tactical gear, flooded into the grand foyer.
“Nobody move!” the lead agent shouted. “Federal agents! Stay where you are!”
The emergency battery lights along the perimeter walls flickered on, casting a stark, blinding white glare over the ballroom.
The sixty wealthy guests stood frozen, their hands raised, champagne glasses still dangling from their fingers.
Arthur Dre stood by the fireplace, looking baffled and furious.
May you like
Matthias stood next to him, his face drained of every drop of blood.
And then Marcus Vance walked into the room, leading a handcuffed Fiona Vale in front of him.
