“I ordered you to take it!”

“We are stepping back,” the guard said.

He raised his hands slightly and took a step away from Nathan.

“This is not a corporate security matter.”

“This is a family dispute.”

“Cowards,” Eleanor spat, her eyes flashing.

“You are all dismissed.”

“They don’t answer to you anymore, Mother,” Nathan said.

“They answer to the law.”

He turned to me and took my hand.

“Let’s go,” he said.

Johnny kept his phone raised, backing out of the vault ahead of us.

Paul and Lily were waiting in the hallway, their eyes wide with fear.

“Did they hurt you?” Lily asked, her voice small.

“No,” I said, pulling her close to my side.

“We have what we came for.”

We walked quickly down the stone corridor, our footsteps echoing off the walls.

The air in the basement was damp and cold, smelling of old concrete and dust.

We climbed the stairs to the main level of the mansion.

The grand foyer was quiet, the high ceilings making our hurried steps sound hollow.

Through the tall glass windows, I could see the gray afternoon sky turning to dusk.