Chapter 6 - The Siege in the Dark
The sharp crack of high-caliber gunfire shattered the night, echoing off the concrete walls of the burnt-out garage. Sparks flew as bullets ricocheted off the metal storage lockers.
"Everett, get behind the workbench!" Harrison screamed, diving to the floor and pulling his leather briefcase over his head like a shield.
Everett didn't hesitate. He grabbed Noah under his arm, scooped up the leather binder from the open safe, and threw himself behind the heavy oak workbench just as a burst of automatic fire tore through the drywall above them.
"Ellie!" Noah screamed, panic cracking his voice. "Where's Ellie?!"
Through the smoke and dust, Everett saw his head security officer, Miller, huddled behind a concrete pillar twenty feet away, shielding Ellie with his body and returning fire with a suppressed sidearm.
"She's safe, Noah! Hold onto me!" Everett barked, pulling the boy tight against his chest.
Four masked men in tactical gear stepped through the broken doorway, holding assault rifles fitted with thermal optics. They weren't common street thugs or low-level mercenaries; these were professional corporate liquidators—the wet-work team Richard Sterling hired when legal threats and bribery failed.
"Whitmore!" a heavy, accented voice called out over the gunfire. "Hand over the drive and the children, and you walk out of here alive! Sterling only wants the technology and the heirs eliminated! You don't have to die for a dead mechanic's kids!"
Everett felt a rage colder and darker than deep space surge through his veins. He looked down at Noah, who was squeezing his eyes shut, clutching his wooden toy hammer like a talisman.
"Hold this for me, kiddo," Everett whispered, placing the patent binder into Noah's small arms. "Don't let go of it no matter what."
"Are you going to leave?" Noah wept.
"Never," Everett said.
Everett looked at Miller across the room and held up three fingers, then two, then one. On the final mark, Miller threw a flashbang grenade across the floor.
A blinding white light and a deafening roar exploded in the center of the room. The mercenaries screamed as their night-vision optics flared violently, blinding them.
"Move! Go! Go!" Miller roared, laying down suppressive fire.
Everett surged to his feet, carrying Noah in his left arm, grabbed Harrison by the collar with his right, and charged through the side exit toward the loading dock where their armored Suburban was idling. Miller covered their rear, laying down precise shots that dropped two of the attackers in the smoke.
They burst out into the cold night air. The driver slid the heavy armored door open. Everett threw Harrison inside, scrambled in with Noah, while Miller loaded Ellie and jumped into the front passenger seat.
"Drive! Get us to the airstrip!" Miller shouted.
The heavy SUV screeched away into the night just as heavy rounds slammed into the reinforced rear glass, spider-webbing the bulletproof material but failing to penetrate.
Inside the bouncing vehicle, Noah was panting, his chest heaving, but he was still holding the patent binder tightly against his stomach. Ellie burst into tears, and Everett reached across the seat, pulling both children into his lap, wrapping his large arms around them both.
"It's over," Everett whispered, kissing the top of Ellie's head as the city lights blurred past the dark windows. "You're safe. I've got you."
Harrison sat up from the floor, wiping blood from a minor scratch on his forehead, his hands trembling as he held his phone.
"I just sent the digital files from that safe to six national media outlets and the Department of Justice," Harrison panted, a dark smile spreading across his face. "The moment Sterling’s mercenaries pulled those triggers, the automated file transfer unlocked. The patent schematics and Marcus's letter are live on the internet."
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Everett looked out the window as the jet engines of his aircraft appeared in the distance.
"Publishing the patent isn't enough, Harrison," Everett said, his voice terrifyingly calm. "Sterling tried to murder Marcus's children in cold blood. I don't want him bankrupt. I want him in a cage for the rest of his life."
