Chapter 7 - Thunder over Mirror Lake
Midnight arrived with a thick, suffocating fog rolling off the lake.
The entire estate was plunged into complete darkness. Wesley had killed the power at the main breaker, leaving only the moonlight filtering through the pine trees to illuminate the quiet driveway.
Inside the main house, Delaney sat crouched behind the heavy oak kitchen island, holding the small black revolver Wesley had given her, her heart hammering wildly against her ribs. Bruno lay beside her, his dark eyes fixed on the front hallway.
Wesley stood in the dark shadow of the dining room archway, holding two heavy tactical handguns he had retrieved from a hidden compartment built into the floorboards of the Escalade.
At 1:15 AM, three dark SUVs turned off the highway onto Cutters Lane, their headlights turned off, gliding like silent predators through the gravel drive.
Twelve heavily armed enforcers stepped out into the fog, wearing tactical vests and holding suppressed submachine guns.
Leading them was Sal Dante himself—a cruel, thin man with a silver tooth and a cold, calculating smile that had terrorized Albany for a decade.
Beside Dante, bound at the wrists with heavy plastic zip-ties, was a pale, terrified young woman with dark hair.
Clara Ror.
“WESLEY!” Dante’s raspy voice echoed through the dark foggy yard. “Come out, Wesley! I brought your sister to watch you die!”
Inside the dark house, Wesley’s eyes narrowed into slitted points of pure, murderous rage.
He leaned close to Delaney’s ear, his voice a feather-light whisper in the dark. “Stay here. No matter what you hear... do not come out until I tell you.”
Before she could answer, Wesley slipped through the side window like a shadow into the fog.
POP! POP! POP!
The silence of the night was shattered as Wesley opened fire from the shadow of the woodshed!
Two of Dante’s lead enforcers dropped instantly to the gravel, struck cleanly through the head before they could even raise their weapons.
“FIRE! KILL HIM!” Dante shrieked, ducking behind the door of his SUV.
A hail of automatic gunfire erupted across the front of the estate! Glass shattered, wood splintered, and plaster rained down inside the living room as nine men opened fire on the woodshed!
Wesley moved through the darkness like a ghost, flanking the squad from the right, taking out two more men with precise, lethal shots through the heavy fog.
Dante realized he was losing control of the ambush. He grabbed Clara by her hair, pulling her roughly toward the front steps of the porch.
“STOP SHOOTING OR I BLOW HER HEAD OFF!” Dante screamed, holding a chrome revolver against Clara’s temple.
The gunfire instantly died down.
Wesley stepped out from the shadow of the maple tree, standing thirty feet away in the moonlight, his guns lowered slightly at his sides, his chest heaving.
“Let her go, Dante,” Wesley said, his voice cold enough to freeze the lake solid. “Your war is with me.”
“It’s over, Wesley!” Dante sneered, his silver tooth catching the pale moonlight. “You gave up your empire for ninety days! The bosses in Albany belong to me now! You’re nothing!”
From inside the dark kitchen window, Delaney saw Dante’s finger tightening on the trigger.
She didn't think. She didn't hesitate.
Delaney stood up from behind the island, leveled her small revolver through the broken screen window, and fired straight at the heavy glass lantern hanging directly above Dante’s head!
BANG!
The lantern shattered! Burning kerosene rained down straight onto Dante’s face and shoulders!
Dante screamed in sudden agony, dropping Clara as he clawed at his burning clothes!
“NOW, BRUNO!” Delaney yelled!
The 150-pound Mastiff burst through the front screen door like a cannonball, lunging across the porch and sinking his massive jaws deep into the shoulder of the remaining gunman guarding the stairs!
Wesley moved like lightning! He closed the distance to Dante in a single stride, grabbed the chrome revolver from Dante’s hand, and fired two swift rounds into Dante’s chest!
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The kingpin of Albany collapsed backwards into the burning gravel, his eyes staring blankly up at the midnight sky.
The battle was over.
