Arthur Vance: Push the heavy oak bookshelf on the left! Quick, before his men clear the broken glass!
Maya: I’ve got it! Help me slide the latch behind the frame!
Noah: Dad, they're kicking the library door! It's bending!
Arthur Vance: Get inside the passage! Maya, go first with Noah!
The thick wooden door of the library groaned under the heavy kicks from Julian's men outside. Maya pulled Noah into the dim, narrow hidden hallway behind the bookshelf, while Arthur squeezed in right behind them and slammed the concealed panel shut. The lock clicked into place just as the main library doors burst open with a loud crash.
Julian: Search every corner! They couldn't have vanished into thin air!
Guard 1: Sir, the dust on the floor near this bookshelf is disturbed!
Julian: Find the trigger! I know this house has old hidden service passages from the nineteen hundreds!
Maya: They know we're in here, Mr. Vance. Where does this hallway lead?
Arthur Vance: It leads directly down to the old wine cellar underneath the west wing. There's a reinforced emergency exit that leads to the outer driveway.
Noah: Dad, my knee hurts... I think a piece of glass got into my shoe during the rush.
Maya: Let me see, sweetheart. Sit down on this step for a second.
Maya knelt down in the dim light of the passage, carefully unlacing the young boy’s shoe. She pulled out a small, sharp sliver of green glass that had caught in his sock, wiping a tiny speck of blood away with her clean napkin.
Maya: There you go, big guy. All clean. You were super brave back there.
Noah: Thank you, Maya. Are you going to stay with us?
Maya: As long as your dad needs me to help get you to safety, I'm not going anywhere.
Arthur Vance: Maya... why are you doing all this? You could have run out the side entrance when the glass fell. You didn't have to put yourself in the middle of a family war.
Maya: My little brother is nine years old. He has a severe heart condition, and I work three jobs to pay for his treatments. If anyone ever put him in danger like that... I’d tear the world down to protect him. I couldn't watch your son get hurt.
Arthur Vance: You have more courage than anyone in that ballroom out there. Most of those wealthy guests ran away the second trouble started.
Maya: Money doesn't make people brave, Mr. Vance. Caring about someone does.
Arthur Vance: When this is over, your brother's medical bills will be completely taken care of by the Vance Foundation. You have my word on that.
Maya: Sir, you don't have to do that—
Arthur Vance: I insist. It’s the absolute minimum I can do for the woman who saved my son’s life twice in one night.
Julian: FOUND IT! Open the panel!
A sudden metallic screech reverberated through the narrow tunnel as the secret door behind them was pried open with a crowbar. Dust particles danced in the harsh flashlight beam that cut through the darkness of the passage.
Julian: End of the line, Arthur! There's nowhere left to hide!
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