Chapter 6 - The Breach at Lake Forest
Sirens began to wail in the distance, their screeching blue-and-red notes echoing through the dense woods surrounding the Lake Forest estate.
"Upstairs! Now!" I barked, grabbing Grace by her waist and lifting her effortlessly into my arms.
"Dad, what's happening?!" Grace cried out, clutching my shirt.
"The house is compromised," I said as we sprinted up the cold stone steps, Valeria and Leo right behind us. "Leo, tell the gate guards to hold their fire! I won't have my men shooting at federal agents!"
"They aren't federal agents, Matteo!" Valeria yelled from behind me as we burst into the ground-floor kitchen.
I stopped dead in my tracks. "What did you say?"
"Look out the window!" Valeria pointed toward the front courtyard through the kitchen glass.
Two black armored tactical vans had crashed straight through the wrought-iron gates of the estate. Men dressed in dark tactical gear, carrying automatic rifles, were pouring out onto the gravel driveway. But they weren't wearing FBI markings or tactical badges.
On the left shoulder of their black vests was a distinct red patch: a coiled viper striking through a broken crown.
Corvo's men. They hadn't used the FBI to arrest me—they had used fake emergency frequencies to cut my perimeter security and isolate the house before launching an all-out assault.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Heavy automatic gunfire shattered the thick bulletproof glass of the front foyer windows. Outside, my perimeter guards went down in a hail of lead before they could even unholster their weapons.
"They cut the main lines!" Leo screamed over the deafening roar of gunfire as drywall exploded across the hallway. "The panic room is locked out from the main terminal!"
"Get Grace to the East Wing study!" I roared, pulling my Kimber .45 from beneath my coat and racking the slide. I turned to Valeria. "Can you handle a sidearm?"
Valeria reached into her dark coat and pulled out a sleek, suppressed SIG Sauer 9mm. "I was raised by Palermo assassins, Matteo. What do you think?"
"Keep Grace behind you," I said, my voice hardening into pure iron. "If anyone comes through that door who isn't me or Leo... blow their heads off."
"Dad, no!" Grace reached out into the dark air, her small hand brushing against my sleeve. "Don't leave me!"
I pulled her close, pressing a fast, fierce kiss onto her forehead. "You remember what you taught me down in the cellar, sweetheart?"
Grace nodded frantically, tears streaming down her face.
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"Sound doesn't lie," I whispered. "Listen to the house, Grace. Trust Valeria. I'm going to put an end to this."
I shoved her gently toward Valeria, then turned toward the front foyer, my gun raised, stepping directly into the storm of fire and blood.
