Chapter 7 - the breach at midnight
"Get down!" Daniel ordered, grabbing Claire and shoving her down the attic ladder as the heavy oak front door below was kicked off its hinges with a deafening crash!
Shouts echoed through the lower level as four armed men in dark tactical uniforms burst into the foyer, their weapon lights cutting through the darkness of the Bennett home.
"Clear the ground floor!" a harsh voice commanded from below. "Secure the stairs!"
Rex stood at the landing of the second-floor staircase, his dark eyes fixed on the advancing tactical lights, his chest rumbling with an ancient, protective rage.
Daniel descended the ladder, pulled Michael into the upper hallway, and handed him a heavy steel flash-mount tool from his coat pocket. "Keep Claire and Noah in the back bedroom. If anyone tries to cross this threshold, hit them."
"What are you going to do?" Michael asked, his athletic frame set in a defensive stance.
"I'm taking back my house," Daniel growled softly.
Daniel turned to the German Shepherd beside him. He rested his hand on the dog's tactical harness, leaning down close to his ear.
"Rex," Daniel whispered in a calm, precise tone. "Distract. Go!"
Rex vaulted down the carpeted stairs like a shadow! The eighty-seven-pound dog hit the first tactical operative at the base of the landing, knocking the man's weapon beam toward the ceiling while disarming him with a swift, powerful shoulder slam.
Chaos erupted in the foyer as the remaining operatives tried to acquire a target in the dark, their flashlight beams swinging wildly across the walls.
Daniel moved right behind Rex, using the confusion to descend the stairs silently. He grabbed the second operative by his tactical vest, executing a swift hip-throw that sent the man crashing into the dining room table, shattering the glass centerpiece!
Daniel disarmed the third man in a fraction of a second, kicking the dropped weapon under the couch while securing the operative in a choke-sleeper hold until the man went limp.
Within forty seconds, three of the four intruders lay neutralized on the floorboards.
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From the shattered front doorway, Thomas Vance stepped into the house, holding a sidearm pointed directly at Daniel's chest. His face was pale, his dark casual jacket torn, his eyes wild with terror.
"Give me the chip, Daniel," Vance begged, his hand trembling on the grip. "They have my daughter in the car outside! If I don't walk out with that chip in thirty seconds, Harrison's lieutenant is going to execute her!"
