Page 58 of His Enemy's Daughter
We move through the estate like ghosts, Regina leading with the confidence of someone who’s memorized every board that creaks, every camera angle, every patrol route. I follow,hyperaware of her presence ahead of me, hand never far from the gun at my spine.
The main stairs are indeed equipped with pressure plates—I can see them now that I know what to look for, subtle weight sensors that would trigger alarms if anyone stepped wrong. But Regina navigates them with practiced ease, pointing out safe zones I’d never have spotted alone.
The second-floor hallway is a maze of infrared beams—visible through my night-vision as a web of red light criss-crossing the space. Regina pulls out what looks like a small remote, pressing buttons with familiar efficiency.
“Backdoor access to his security system,” she explains, watching as the beams power down section by section. “We have a thirty-second window before it automatically resets. Move fast.”
We sprint through the hallway, reaching the vault door just as the beams reactivate behind us. Close—too close—but we made it.
The vault entrance is hidden behind a false panel that Regina opens with practiced ease. Beyond it, a steel door that looks like it belongs in a bank sits embedded in reinforced walls. Biometric scanner glows red, waiting for verification.
“This is where it gets interesting.” She pulls out a small device, something that looks like it came from a spy movie. “Giordano helped me acquire Father’s fingerprint and retinal data a month ago. If this works—”
“If?” The word comes out sharper than intended.
“When.” Her correction is firm as she places the device against the scanner. “When this works, we’ll have sixty seconds to enter the vault, locate the ledgers, and exit before the secondary security system activates.”
“Secondary security system you failed to mention earlier?”
“I didn’t want you worrying.” But there’s tension in her shoulders now, fingers working the device with focused intensity. “Father’s paranoid. The main security is just the first layer. Once someone enters the vault, they have sixty seconds to input a cancellation code or poison gas floods the room.”
“Christ, Regina—”
“Got it.” The scanner beeps green, and the vault door begins to open with a hydraulic hiss that sounds deafening in the quiet hallway. “Clock starts now.”
We plunge into darkness, and even with night-vision the vault is a maze of shelves and filing cabinets. Regina moves with purpose, navigating straight to the back corner where a leather-bound ledger sits innocuously among other documents.
“This is it.” She grabs it, hands shaking slightly. “Seven years of gathering evidence, and it all comes down to—”
“Company!” The shout comes from the hallway, followed by the unmistakable sound of boots on marble. Multiple sets. Moving fast.
Regina’s eyes go wide. “That’s impossible. Father’s at the meeting. These guards shouldn’t be—”
“Doesn’t matter.” I grab her hand, scanning for exits that aren’t the way we came. “There has to be another way out of this vault.”
“There isn’t. Father designed it with only one entrance to prevent exactly this kind of—”
“Then we go through them.” I pull out my gun, checking the chamber with grim efficiency. “Stay behind me. No matter what happens, you stay behind me.”
“Mauricio—”
“Not negotiable.” I position myself between her and the vault door, every muscle coiled for violence. “You wanted us working as equals? Right now, that means you let me handle the shooting while you figure out our actual exit strategy.”
The vault door explodes inward with the force of guards using a battering ram. Three men pour through, weapons raised, faces showing surprise when they register our presence.
I fire before they can—controlled bursts, training from prison and instinct combining into lethal efficiency. First guard dropsimmediately, second takes two shots before going down. The third gets a round off that whistles past my ear close enough to feel the heat.
Regina gasps behind me, and fury ignites in my chest. I put three bullets in the third guard’s center mass, watching him crumple like a puppet with cut strings.
“You hit?” I don’t turn, can’t afford to take my eyes off the hallway where more guards will be coming any second.
“No, I’m—the gas.” Her voice carries panic now. “Mauricio, we triggered the secondary security. We have maybe thirty seconds before—”
“Then you better find that exit.” I move to the vault door, using the frame for cover as more boots thunder up the stairs. “Because I’m not letting you die in your father’s trap after we came this far.”
“There.” She’s at the back wall now, hands running over what looks like solid steel. “Giordano mentioned a rumor at one point. It was something about a service tunnel Father had installed for emergency evacuation. If I can find the—”
A section of wall clicks, sliding open to reveal darkness beyond. Regina’s laugh is half-hysterical, half-triumphant.
