Chapter 5 – Darkness at the Morgan House
Every security monitor in Daniel's office went black at the same time.
One screen after another.
Front gate.
Driveway.
Backyard.
Hallway.
Children's rooms.
NO SIGNAL.
Daniel stared at the monitors.
"What just happened?"
His cybersecurity specialist, Ethan Brooks, immediately leaned over the keyboard.
"This isn't a power failure."
His fingers flew across the keys.
"Someone's inside your network."
"Can you stop them?"
"I'm trying."
The cursor on the screen suddenly moved by itself.
A single message appeared in bright red letters.
STOP DIGGING.
Then another line.
OR THEY DIE NEXT.
The monitors shut off completely.
Upstairs, Mateo was helping Sofia finish her homework when the lights flickered.
Sofia looked up nervously.
"Is the power going out?"
"I don't know."
Mateo walked to the window.
The front gate lights had gone dark.
Even the garden lamps were off.
Something felt wrong.
Very wrong.
He remembered the note.
Your mother didn't die by accident.
His heart began to pound.
Outside the estate, a black van rolled silently onto the deserted road.
Its headlights remained off.
Inside sat three men dressed in dark tactical clothing.
The driver looked into the rearview mirror.
"The cameras are down."
A second man checked his watch.
"We have six minutes."
The third loaded a suppressed pistol.
"The boss said no mistakes."
The van stopped just beyond the security gate.
One man climbed over the stone wall while another cut through a section of the perimeter fence hidden behind thick hedges.
Inside the house, Detective Laura Bennett's phone rang.
It was the state cybercrime unit.
"We traced the attack."
"Where did it come from?" Laura asked.
"Not overseas."
"Not another city."
The technician paused.
"It originated less than two miles from Daniel's house."
Laura's face changed instantly.
"They're still there."
She grabbed her jacket.
"Call every available unit."
Daniel had already armed the home's emergency alarm system when he heard it.
A faint metallic sound.
From the back of the house.
Not loud.
Just enough.
Someone was forcing open a window.
He turned toward Ethan.
"Stay with the kids."
"I'm calling 911."
Daniel quietly removed the antique revolver locked inside the study safe.
He hated guns.
He had hoped never to touch one again.
Tonight...
he had no choice.
The first intruder slipped into the kitchen without making a sound.
Black gloves.
Black mask.
Professional.
He raised a small handheld scanner.
Two warm bodies upstairs.
One adult approaching from the hallway.
He signaled the others.
Move.
Mateo heard footsteps.
Not his father's.
Too slow.
Too careful.
He immediately pulled Sofia away from the bedroom door.
"Hide."
"What?"
"Now."
They climbed into the walk-in closet just as the hallway floor creaked outside.
Sofia clutched Mateo's hand so tightly it hurt.
"Will Daddy find us?"
Mateo swallowed hard.
"He will."
He prayed he wasn't lying.
Downstairs, Daniel rounded the corner into the kitchen.
Everything looked normal.
Too normal.
Then—
A shadow moved.
Daniel fired.
The deafening gunshot shattered the silence.
The masked intruder dove behind the island.
Glass exploded across the floor.
The other two men rushed through the back entrance.
Daniel realized with horror...
There wasn't just one.
There were three.
Outside, police sirens echoed faintly in the distance.
Too far away.
The attackers had only minutes left.
One of them spoke into a hidden earpiece.
"We've been compromised."
A calm voice answered.
"Forget the father."
A chilling pause followed.
"Bring me the children."
The voice disconnected.
Inside the closet, Mateo's eyes widened.
Someone had just stopped outside the bedroom door.
May you like
The doorknob...
began to turn.
