Chapter 4 - The Velvet Key
"Down!" Dominic barked, throwing his broad body over the leather trunk to protect the evidence as automatic gunfire shredded the wooden pews of the chapel.
Frank drew his suppressed sidearm, rolling behind a solid marble pillar and returning fire through the shattered window frame. "Perimeter team! We have a breach at the east wing!" Frank shouted into his radio.
Static crackled back through the receiver: "Boss! The main gate was compromised from the inside! A convoy of three armored SUVs is on the driveway!"
Dominic didn't panic. He moved with the smooth, terrifying speed of a seasoned warlord. He pulled his heavy tactical sidearm from his shoulder holster, grabbed the leather journal and the metal canister, and slung the trunk's shoulder strap over his broad back.
"Move to the master suite!" Dominic ordered Frank, firing three controlled shots through the broken window that dropped two breachers on the stone terrace outside.
They sprinted down the long, carpeted corridor toward the secure residential wing. Red emergency backup lanterns flickered on along the baseboards as the estate's main power grid was severed from the outside.
Dominic burst into Maisie’s bedroom.
The little girl was sitting up in her four-poster bed, clutching a plush teddy bear against her pale-pink nightgown, her fair, rosy cheeks pale with fear.
"Daddy!" she cried out.
Dominic swept her up into his broad left arm, pulling her flush against his chest, while holding his weapon ready in his right. "I've got you, princess. You're safe."
He ushering Frank toward a hidden wall panel beside the mahogany wardrobe. Dominic pressed his thumb against a hidden biometric scanner embedded in the woodwork.
The wood paneling slid open with a soft mechanical hiss, revealing a private, steel-reinforced elevator descending into the deep bedrock beneath the mansion.
They stepped inside, the heavy steel door sliding shut just as automatic rounds riddled the bedroom door outside.
As the elevator descended into the subterranean dark, Maisie reached into her nightgown pocket and pulled out a small, antique silver key attached to a velvet ribbon.
"Daddy..." Maisie whispered softly, holding out the key. "Aunt Veronica dropped this near my gift table before she hit me."
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Dominic took the silver key into his broad palm. Engraved on the bow of the key was a tiny crest depicting a raven coiled around an anchor—the personal symbol of the Senior Syndicate Elders.
"This key doesn't open a door in this house, Frank," Dominic said, his voice dropping into a dangerous, low vibration. "It opens the master vault at the Swiss Bank in Chicago."
