Chapter 3 - Gathering the Remnants"We can't stay here," Nora said, looking toward the dark treeline at the edge of the estate. "If whoever locked that door realizes you survived, they'll come back."
"They won't expect us to be walking around," Roman replied, his mind already calculating their next moves. "They'll assume the fire consumed everything, including any evidence."
He led Nora and Maisie toward a small, reinforced storm shelter built into the hillside beneath the old rose garden—a relic from the estate’s older history that wasn't connected to the main house's digital surveillance network. Only Roman and his longest-serving loyalist knew it existed.
Inside, the shelter was cool, stocked with emergency rations, medical supplies, and an independent communication radio.
While Nora tended to the burns on Roman’s forearm with cool water and sterile gauze, Roman tuned the radio to a secure, encrypted frequency, trying to raise anyone outside the compound.
Static hissed through the speaker.
"Come on," Roman muttered, adjusting the dial. "Vance... Carmine... pick up."
A heavy, distorted voice finally broke through the static. "Boss? Boss, is that you?"
"Carmine," Roman breathed in relief. "Where are you?"
"We're three miles out on the north highway," Carmine’s voice came back frantic and strained. "We got an automated alert that your biometric monitor flatlined, but when we tried to approach the gates, the entire perimeter defense system locked us out. Electronic jamming. Someone staged a coup from inside the command center."
"Who's running the command center tonight?" Roman asked sharply.
"Victor," Carmine replied. "Victor Santos."
Roman’s eyes darkened like a gathering storm. Victor Santos—the head of estate security, a man Roman had trusted with his life for over a decade.
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"Listen to me carefully, Carmine," Roman instructed, his voice steely and precise. "Do not breach the main gates. They're rigged. Use the old drainage culvert beneath the west wall. Meet me at the rose garden shelter in twenty minutes. Bring heavy gear."
"Understood, Boss. Hang on."
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