Chapter 6 - THIRTY SECONDS
“Bomb!”
Viktor rushed toward Julian.
Roman grabbed Maya and pulled her behind a stone pillar.
Valentina stepped backward into the shadows.
A steel door opened behind her.
She vanished.
The countdown reached twenty-five.
Viktor cut Julian’s restraints.
“What triggers it?”
Julian looked beneath the chair.
“Pressure plate.”
“If I stand, it detonates.”
Roman scanned the cellar.
“Gas vents.”
“Bomb.”
“Locked door.”
“This room was built to kill everyone inside.”
Maya coughed.
The air tasted bitter.
She looked at the brass key in her palm.
The black wolf symbol glowed faintly.
A matching symbol had been carved into the floor beside the chair.
“There.”
She pointed.
Roman saw it.
The symbol sat inside a small metal plate.
Maya crawled toward it.
Roman caught her.
“No.”
“It matches the key.”
“Stay behind me.”
“There’s no time.”
The countdown reached seventeen.
Julian’s face glistened with sweat.
Viktor pushed down on the chair.
“If this fails, we all die.”
Maya slid the key into the narrow wolf-shaped slot.
The plate clicked.
The countdown stopped at eleven.
No one moved.
The gas continued to hiss.
Maya turned the key.
A section of floor opened beneath the pillar.
A hidden staircase descended into darkness.
Roman lifted Maya.
“Move.”
Viktor kept pressure on Julian’s chair.
Julian looked at him.
“You cannot lift your hand.”
“I know.”
Roman stopped.
“Viktor.”
“Take the girl.”
“No.”
“That is an order.”
Viktor smiled bitterly.
“You stopped being my boss the moment you decided to walk into an obvious trap.”
Roman’s jaw tightened.
Julian looked down at the wires beneath the chair.
“Wait.”
“The plate stopped the timer.”
“It may have disabled the pressure sensor too.”
“May have?”
Viktor asked.
Julian lifted one finger from the chair.
Nothing happened.
Then another.
The timer remained frozen.
Viktor released the chair.
Still nothing.
They ran toward the staircase.
The timer suddenly restarted.
Ten.
Nine.
Roman pushed Maya down the steps.
Viktor and Julian followed.
Roman jumped through the opening as the floor closed above them.
The explosion shook the stone walls.
Dust rained from the ceiling.
Maya covered her ears.
The tunnel lights flickered on one by one.
They revealed a long corridor beneath the estate.
Steel doors lined both sides.
Each door had a name engraved into it.
Judges.
Politicians.
Police commanders.
Business owners.
Roman walked slowly.
His face hardened with every name.
Maya stopped beside one door.
DANIEL VANCE.
She touched the metal letters.
The key grew warm in her hand.
The door unlocked.
Inside was a small office.
A desk stood beneath a single lamp.
A faded photograph rested on the wall.
Daniel Vance stood beside a much younger Roman.
They were smiling.
Maya had never seen her father smile like that.
Roman looked away.
On the desk sat an old tape recorder.
Maya pressed play.
Her father’s voice filled the room.
“If Maya is hearing this, then Sarah failed to keep her away from the Sokolovs.”
Maya covered her mouth.
Roman closed his eyes.
Daniel continued.
“Roman, if you are with her, you need to know the truth.”
“Your mother did not order my death.”
“She was protecting the person who did.”
A sound came from the hallway.
Slow footsteps.
Roman raised his pistol.
The tape kept playing.
“The killer is someone you trust more than anyone.”
Viktor stepped into the doorway.
May you like
A gun rested in his hand.
It was pointed at Roman.
