The blind servant is a trillionaire

Chapter 5

The Apex Country Club was massive. It had three floors of luxury lounges, private dining rooms, and indoor pools. But it also had a sprawling underground basement level used for storage and private security holding cells.

Griffin knew the layout of the building perfectly.

He tapped his white cane on the marble floor and walked slowly past the main reception desk. He headed toward the restricted service elevator at the back of the hallway.

"Hey." A loud voice called out.

A heavy security guard stepped in front of Griffin. The guard placed a thick hand on his chest.

"You cannot go down this hallway." The guard said firmly. "This elevator is strictly for executive security. Get back to the laundry room."

"I apologize." Griffin said quietly. He made his voice sound confused and completely disoriented. "I..Wait a minute. I think I took a wrong turn near the kitchen. Everything sounds different today."

He turned around slowly, tapped his cane against the wall, pretending to search for the correct path.

As he turned, his thumb pressed the hidden switch on the handle of his cane.

The Sovereign terminal in his pocket sent a silent, localized command directly to the building security mainframe.

Suddenly, the heavy fire alarm above their heads began to scream violently. Blinking white strobe lights flashed down the entire hallway.

"What is going on?" The guard shouted over the deafening noise. He grabbed the radio on his shoulder. "Control, this is sector three. We have a fire alarm activation."

The radio crackled wildly.

"We have a massive security breach at the Diamond Casino." The voice on the radio yelled in pure panic. "A mercenary team just blew up the front doors of the casino. Malakai is ordering all available club security to deploy to the casino immediately. Move out."

The guard cursed loudly. He completely ignored Griffin. He drew his weapon and sprinted down the hallway toward the front exit.

Griffin stood alone in the flashing lights. The deafening fire alarm covered any sound he made.

He turned back around and walked directly to the restricted service elevator. The electronic keypad on the wall glowed red. It required a high level keycard.

Griffin placed his phone flat against the keypad. The terminal rapidly cycled through a thousand encryption codes in two seconds. The light flashed green.

The elevator doors slid open.

He stepped inside and pressed the button for the sub-basement.

The elevator dropped quickly. Then he took a deep breath. His ribs ached violently, but he pushed the pain deep into the back of his mind. He was no longer playing a helpless victim. He was a predator in the dark.

The doors opened to a long, concrete hallway. It smelled like damp earth and old copper.

He opened his eyes completely. The milky white contact lenses shifted into the bright green night vision mode. He could see perfectly in the dim light.

He walked silently down the concrete hallway, passed several locked storage doors. He reached the heavy steel door at the very end of the corridor.

A massive bodyguard stood in front of the door. The man was easily six and a half feet tall. He held a suppressed submachine gun across his chest. He looked extremely bored.

Griffin stopped at the edge of the hallway corner. He stayed completely hidden in the shadows. He could not fight this massive guard directly. The man was heavily armed and wearing thick body armor.

Griffin looked closely at his surroundings.

Right above the head of the heavy guard, a large industrial steam pipe ran across the low ceiling. It was connected to the main boiler system of the club. A digital pressure valve regulated the hot steam.

Griffin pulled his terminal from his pocket and connected to the internal plumbing network of the country club.

He disabled the safety limiters on the main boiler. Then he increased the steam pressure to maximum capacity in exactly three seconds.

The heavy pipe above the guard began to shake violently. A loud, high pitched whistling sound filled the hallway.

The massive guard looked up in confusion. He raised his submachine gun.

"What the hell is that?" The guard muttered.

The iron pipe exploded.

A massive blast of boiling white steam shot directly downward. It hit the guard with incredible force.

The man screamed in absolute agony. The burning steam cooked his exposed skin instantly. He dropped his weapon and fell blindly to the concrete floor, clutching his burned face.

Griffin stepped out of the shadows. He walked quickly past the screaming man. He did not even look down.

He placed his terminal against the electronic lock of the heavy steel door. The lock clicked open.

He pushed the door open and stepped inside the dark room.

It was a cold concrete cell. A single bare lightbulb hung from the ceiling.

Sam was tied to a heavy metal chair in the center of the room. The young boy looked terrible. His face was badly bruised. His lip was bleeding. His hands were tied tightly behind his back.

Sam looked up wildly when the door opened. He saw the white uniform and the milky eyes.

"Griffin?" Sam whispered in total shock. "How did you get down here?"

"I told you I always take care of my own." Griffin said softly.

He pulled a small knife from his pocket and quickly cut the thick ropes binding the boy.

Sam fell forward. Griffin caught him gently. The boy was shaking violently from the cold and the fear.

"They asked me about the Oracle." Sam sobbed quietly. He buried his face in Griffin’s white shirt "I did not tell them anything. I swear."

"I know you did not." Griffin said. He patted the back of the brave boy. "You did perfectly. Now we have to leave. You have to be completely silent."

"Okay." Sam nodded. He wiped his tears and stood up on shaky legs.

Griffin held his white cane in his right hand. He kept his left hand firmly on the shoulder of the boy. They walked out of the cell and stepped over the unconscious, burned guard in the hallway.

When they reached the service elevator, Griffin pressed the call button.

The wait felt like an absolute eternity. The fire alarm was still blaring loudly upstairs.

Finally, the elevator chimed softly. The metal doors began to slide open.

Griffin prepared to step inside.

He stopped completely dead in his tracks.

Standing inside the elevator, breathing heavily and looking absolutely furious, was Malakai.

He held a heavy black pistol in his hand. He had not gone to the casino. He had stayed behind to check his most valuable prisoner.

Malakai looked at the burned guard on the floor. He looked at the bruised street kid.

Then he looked directly into the milky white eyes of the blind masseur.