Chapter 7 - Midnight at the Estate
At 2:00 a.m., a heavy fog rolled across Ethan’s private estate outside St. Louis.
The main house was quiet. Security lights flickered softly along the perimeter fence. Inside the nursery, baby Emma was sleeping peacefully in a mahogany crib, while Sadie slept in the adjacent bedroom under a plush pink quilt.
Ethan sat in his study downstairs, reviewing financial audit files provided by federal investigators.
Suddenly, the silent security alert on his phone vibrated against the desk.
PERIMETER BREACH: SECTOR 4 — BACK PATIO.
Ethan grabbed his flashlights and pulled a heavy metal iron rod from the fireplace stand. He moved silently down the hallway, keeping his footsteps completely noiseless against the hardwood floors.
In the kitchen, the glass patio door had been shattered.
Two men wearing dark tactical gear and ski masks were inside, stepping over the broken glass. One of them held a heavy canvas bag and a crowbar, while the second man held a silenced hand pistol.
“Find the computer and the hard drives,” a familiar voice rasped from the back. It was Derek Voss, standing outside the broken door, clutching a flashlight. “And get the kids! We take them across the state line tonight before the federal warrants drop!”
Before the armed man could react, Ethan stepped out from the shadows of the kitchen island.
With a swift, brutal strike, Ethan slammed the fireplace rod across the armed intruder’s wrist, knocking the gun out of his hand onto the tile floor.
The intruder gasped in pain, but Ethan didn't give him a second chance—he threw a powerful right hook into the man’s jaw, knocking him cold against the counter.
The second intruder lunged at Ethan with the crowbar. Ethan ducked beneath the swing, seized the man’s tactical vest, and hurled him violently through the shattered glass patio door, sending him crashing onto the icy stone steps outside.
Derek Voss froze in terror as Ethan stepped out through the broken frame, his face dark with lethal fury.
“You came to my house, Derek,” Ethan said, his voice dropping into a terrifyingly low whisper as he backed Derek against the courtyard fountain.
“Keep... keep away from me!” Derek stammered, pulling a hunting knife from his belt with trembling hands. “I want my kids!”
Ethan didn't flinch. He walked right up to the knife point, snatched Derek’s wrist, twisted it until the bone popped, and slammed Derek’s head against the stone fountain.
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Derek collapsed onto his knees in the snow, gasping for breath, blood dripping from his nose.
High-pitched police sirens roared in the distance, their red lights cutting through the thick night fog as six police cruisers tore up the estate driveway.
