Chapter 3 - The Sanctuary in the West Wing
By midnight, the mansion had been placed under complete lockdown by Ethan’s personal security detail. Armed guards in dark tactical attire stood at every entrance, their radio earpieces silent as they monitored the estate grounds.
Ethan sat in a plush armchair inside the secure nursery on the second floor, rocking baby Leo gently in his arms. The room was illuminated only by a soft nightlight shaped like a golden star, casting long, peaceful shadows across the walls.
The door opened silently, and Thomas, Ethan’s chief of security and trusted confidant for over fifteen years, stepped into the room. Thomas was fifty-two, broad-shouldered, with a scarred forehead and steady gray eyes.
THOMAS: "We secured the hallway, boss. Your mother is currently in the west parlor with two female officers watching the exits."
Ethan looked down at his sleeping son, tracing the soft contour of Leo’s golden hair with his thumb.
ETHAN: "Did you inspect the opening under the flag stand, Thomas?"
Thomas paused, his hand resting on the wooden door frame, his expression uncharacteristically grave.
THOMAS: "The staircase leads down sixty feet to an reinforced steel door with a mechanical keypad. The lock system isn't connected to the estate's central server."
May you like
ETHAN: "Who built it?"
THOMAS: "According to the architectural blueprints filed thirty years ago, your late father added that sub-basement during the mansion's original construction."
