Chapter 6 - Shadows over the Estate
Victor reacted instantly. He grabbed Arthur by his collar and threw him down onto the hardwood floor as a second heavy rifle round tore through the leather sofa.
Outside, the roar of multiple high-powered engines echoed through the quiet forest.
"Vincent!" Victor shouted into his wrist communicator as he pulled his sidearm and fired three suppressing shots through the broken window. "We have heavy hostiles on the perimeter! Get the SUV out of here now!"
"Boss! They’re blocking the driveway!" Vincent’s voice barked back through the speaker over the sound of automatic gunfire outside. "It’s a full mercenary squad!"
Victor dragged Arthur by his jacket toward the rear kitchen door. "Who else knew about this lake house, Arthur? Speak!"
"The... the Vane syndicate!" Arthur gasped, clutching his bruised throat. "When I realized I couldn't get into the Boston safe box, I sold the location of Julian’s family to the Vane family two days ago! They brought in foreign mercenaries to wipe us all out!"
Victor’s eyes burned with cold, unyielding rage. He shoved Arthur against the kitchen wall. "You sold my family to our worst enemies."
"Victor, please! Protect me! I can give you the account numbers!" Arthur begged on his knees.
"You're not worth the bullet," Victor said coldly. He raised his weapon and struck Arthur across the jaw with the heavy steel frame, knocking the traitor unconscious onto the linoleum floor.
Victor kicked open the rear kitchen door and sprinted out into the misty woods, using the thick pine trunks as cover.
Fifty yards away near the driveway, Vincent Hale was standing behind the driver's door of the armored SUV, firing precise, disciplined bursts from his automatic rifle at two black vans that had blocked the entrance.
Inside the rear seat of the SUV, Clare was crouching low over Maisie, covering her daughter’s body with her own, her eyes wide with terror as bullets ricocheted off the reinforced ballistic glass.
Victor reached the side of the vehicle, ducking low near the rear tire. "Vincent! Status!"
"They’ve got eight men down the lane, boss!" Vincent yelled over the deafening noise. "Heavy armor, automatic weapons! They're trying to flank us from the left!"
Victor reached through the driver’s window, grabbed a flash-bang grenade from the tactical console, pulled the pin, and hurled it high over the hood toward the pine trees where the enemy muzzle flashes were burning through the fog.
A blinding white light and a deafening explosion shattered the night.
"Drive!" Victor roared, throwing himself into the front passenger seat.
Vincent slammed the heavy SUV into gear, flooring the accelerator. The six-ton armored vehicle surged forward like a battering ram, smashing directly through the side of the lead black van and clearing a path onto the main highway.
Sparks flew into the night air as the SUV tore down the asphalt, leaving the burning wreckage and stunned mercenaries behind in the dark forest.
In the back seat, Clare lifted her head, her body trembling uncontrollably. She looked down at Maisie. The little girl was crying softly, her small arms wrapped tightly around her gray stuffed rabbit.
Victor turned around in his seat, looking at his niece. He reached his broad, tattooed hand into the back, gently placing his palm against the side of Maisie’s fair, rosy cheek.
"You're safe now, little one," Victor said, his deep voice remarkably steady and calm despite the chaos. "Nobody is ever going to hurt you again."
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Maisie looked up at him through her tears, reaching out her small hand to touch his embroidered ivory cuff. "Uncle Victor... is Daddy coming back now?"
Victor froze, his gray-blue eyes holding hers in the dim interior light of the speeding car, a deep, painful question taking root in his heart.
