Chapter 6 - The Siege of Lake Forest
While the storm raged over the West Side rail yards, thirty miles to the north, a nightmare was unfolding at the Lake Forest estate.
Inside the subterranean bunker twenty feet below the mansion, the air was quiet and cool. Marcus sat on the edge of a cot, holding a wooden toy car he had carved for Tommy, while Lily read a storybook to the twins.
Suddenly, the heavy steel blast door shuddered with a deep, echoing THUD.
Silas instantly drew his weapon, motioning for the four guards inside the bunker to take defensive positions behind the concrete pillars.
“What was that?” Marcus asked, standing up quickly.
“Stay back!” Silas commanded, his eyes locked on the door’s hydraulic locking mechanism.
A second THUD rattled the steel frame, followed by the hiss of blowtorches cutting through the heavy locking bolts.
Lorenzo hadn't gone to the rail yards with Moretti.
It had been a trap.
Salvatore Moretti had sent a dummy convoy to the West Side to draw Dante and his primary strike force away from the estate, while Lorenzo led a mercenary assault team of twenty men back to Lake Forest to execute the children and claim the estate for himself.
The heavy steel blast door swung open with a deafening screech of rending metal.
Smoke poured into the bunker.
“Fire!” Silas screamed.
A chaotic gunfight erupted inside the enclosed concrete space. Muzzle flashes lit up the darkness like strobe lights. Silas and his men fought valiantly, but the mercenaries rushed the room with flashbang grenades and heavy tactical shields.
Within three minutes, the four estate guards were down. Silas, bleeding heavily from a wound to his chest, was pinned against the back wall by two mercenaries.
Lorenzo stepped through the smoke, holding a silenced pistol, a wicked, triumphant grin plastered across his face.
“Well, well,” Lorenzo sneered, his eyes scanning the terrified children huddled in the corner. “The little ducks are trapped in their pond.”
Marcus stepped in front of Lily, Tommy, and the twins, holding a heavy iron flashlight like a club. “Stay away from them!”
Lorenzo laughed, walking over and backhanding Marcus across the face, sending the twelve-year-old sprawling onto the concrete floor.
“Shut up, brat,” Lorenzo spat. He reached down and grabbed Lily by her collar, dragging the screaming seven-year-old girl toward him. He reached for the silver locket around her neck. “Where is the micro-key, you little trash?”
“She doesn't have it!” a voice shouted from the doorway.
Lorenzo spun around.
Standing in the doorway, soaked in blood and rain, her hair plastered to her face, stood Olivia Sterling.
She held the 9mm pistol in both hands, her posture shaking, but her eyes burning with an unstoppable, murderous rage.
She hadn't stayed in the SUV. When she realized the rail yards were an empty decoy setup, she had taken the secondary vehicle and raced back to Lake Forest alone.
“Olivia...” Lorenzo chuckled, lowering his pistol slightly. “You came back to die for these bastards? You really are as foolish as your dead father.”
“My father died with honor,” Olivia said, her voice dropping into a cold, steady rhythm. “You’re going to die in a basement.”
Lorenzo raised his gun to shoot her.
Olivia didn't hesitate. She squeezed the trigger.
May you like
Three shots echoed through the bunker. Two bullets struck Lorenzo squarely in the chest, shattering his body armor, while the third caught him in the throat.
Lorenzo fell backward onto the concrete floor, choking on his own blood, his eyes wide in shock as his life bled out into the cold stone.
