Chapter 5 - THE RAID AT THE GLASS HOUSE
The abandoned glass factory in Queens smelled of wet rust, rot, and old machinery.
At 11:45 PM, a thick fog hung over the alleyways, muffling the sound of the rain. Eight blacked-out SUVs sat parked two blocks away, hidden in the shadows of the industrial district.
I checked my tactical watch.
11:48 PM.
At Pier 14, three miles away, my decoy team—led by twenty of my most ruthless soldiers—was currently setting up a massive fake security perimeter, giving Cassian Vance the exact illusion he wanted: Aleandro Moretti preparing to store his empire's most valuable secrets in a dockside vault.
"Thermal imaging shows four guards inside the main office floor," my tactical captain whispered into my earpiece. "Two more near the basement door. No heavy weaponry detected."
"Vance fell for it," I replied into my mic, pulling a suppressed tactical pistol from my thigh holster. "He pulled fifteen of his best shooters to Pier 14. He left a skeleton crew here to guard the girl."
I looked back at Victor, who was sitting in the front passenger seat of the lead SUV, his tablet open as he monitored the perimeter security feeds.
"Stay in the vehicle, Victor," I commanded softly. "Keep the engines running. If any police scanners pick up our frequency, signal us immediately."
"Be careful, son," Victor said, his voice unusually soft as he looked at me through his glasses. "Bring the little girl home."
I gave him a crisp nod, stepped out into the pouring rain, and raised three fingers to my breach squad.
Three. Two. One.
CRASH!
The heavy steel side door blew inward under a controlled explosive charge.
We moved like shadows through the smoke.
Pfft. Pfft. Pfft.
The suppressed pops of our weapons echoed softly against the broken concrete walls. The first two Vance guards dropped before they even had time to raise their rifles. The third tried to reach for his radio, but my blade caught him across the throat before he could utter a syllable.
We cleared the ground floor in forty-five seconds.
"Basement clear!" a guard shouted from the lower stairwell.
I threw open the heavy reinforced iron door at the end of the dark corridor and stormed down the stairs, my heart hammering against my ribs.
At the end of the damp, concrete basement, illuminated by a single flickering lightbulb, sat a small wooden chair.
Tied to the chair with heavy rope was a small girl with dark, messy curls, her face smudged with soot, her little shoes missing.
"Sofia!" I shouted, rushing forward and dropping to my knees beside her.
The child flinched, her eyes wide with absolute terror as she looked up at my black tactical gear and face mask.
"Don't hurt me! Please don't hurt me!" she sobbed, shrinking back.
I pulled off my mask, letting her see my face under the lightbulb.
"Sofia," I said gently, pulling a small silver pocket knife to slice through her ropes. "Look at me. It's Aleandro. Isabella's fiancé. Do you remember me from the garden?"
The child gasped, her small body shaking violently as the ropes fell away. "A-Aleandro?"
"I've got you, sweetheart," I whispered, lifting her small frame into my arms and wrapping my tactical jacket around her cold shoulders. "Your sister is waiting for you. You're safe now."
She buried her face into my neck, crying uncontrollably.
I stood up, holding her tightly against my chest, and turned back toward the stairs.
"Target secured!" I announced into my comms. "Move back to the vehicles!"
We burst out of the glass factory into the cool night air, running toward the parked SUVs.
I threw open the rear door of my SUV, sliding onto the leather seat with Sofia wrapped safely in my arms.
"We got her, Victor!" I shouted happily to the front seat. "She's safe! Get us out of here!"
The front seat was empty.
The driver was gone. Victor’s tablet was sitting on the console, its screen flickering with live footage from Pier 14.
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And then, from the shadows of the alleyway behind our vehicle, a smooth, familiar voice spoke over my earpiece—a voice that made my blood run instantly cold.
"I must admit, Aleandro... you always were faster than your father."
