Chapter 16: Darkness and Deception
The sudden pitch black of the mansion foyer was absolute.
The emergency backup generators, programmed to kick in within milliseconds, hummed with a strained, stuttering whine before dying out entirely.
"Thermal goggles on!" Commander Vance’s voice cut sharply through the dark, echoing off the marble pillars.
Camila didn’t move an inch. Standing in the center of the grand foyer, her senses were dialed to their absolute peak. She felt the slight displacement of air as someone moved with terrifying speed just feet away from her.
Click.
A blinding flash of infrared light flared from a tactical strobe grenade, illuminating the foyer in a harsh, ghostly white glow.
Viktor was gone.
Where the syndicate leader had stood a second before, only an empty space remained. His tailored suit jacket lay neatly draped over the arm of a nearby chair, abandoned like a discarded skin.
"Perimeter breach!" an operator shouted over the encrypted tactical comms. "Service tunnel access hatch in the East Wing has been blown from the inside! He’s heading for the subterranean motor pool!"
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"Vance, secure the extraction points!" Camila ordered instantly, her voice cutting through the rising panic like a razor. "Don't let him reach the vehicles!"
As emergency red hazard lights flickered to life along the baseboards, casting long, bloody shadows across the hallway, Camila strode purposefully toward the East Wing corridor. She knew this house better than Viktor ever could—she had memorized every blueprint, every hidden service shaft, and every architectural flaw during her months of meticulous planning.
