Chapter 4 - The Siege of the Trust
Ten minutes later, the quiet night exploded.
Two heavy armored SUVs crashed through the wooden gates of the southern orchard, their headlights cutting bright white swathes through the fog. Heavy automatic fire instantly erupted from the vehicles, chewing through the porch railings and shattering the glass windows of the farmhouse.
Dominic and Megan were already inside the secondary defense perimeter—a reinforced concrete storm cellar built beneath the main barn, connected to the house by a secure underground trench.
Inside the cellar, Megan watched the surveillance feeds on a wall of monitors. "They brought heavy caliber rounds, Dominic. They’re trying to level the house."
"Let them shoot the wood," Dominic said, standing at a tactical gun rack, strapping extra magazines to his chest. "Structure means nothing. Position is everything. They think we’re trapped inside the main living room."
"I’m setting the magnetic tripwires along the perimeter fence," Megan said, her fingers flying across a digital control pad.
Outside, five mercenaries dismounted from the SUVs, advancing toward the front porch under the cover of suppressive fire. Their leader, a scar-faced operative named Vane, motioned toward the heavy front door.
"Breaching charge on the door!" Vane shouted. "Go! Go!"
A mercenary sprinted onto the porch, slapping a breach block onto the oak door. He backed away, detonating the explosive. The door blew inward in a shower of splinters and smoke.
The mercenaries flooded into the dark foyer, their flashlights sweeping the living room—the piano, the family photographs on the mantelpiece, the soft rug where Clara played.
"Clear ground floor!" a mercenary shouted.
Suddenly, a heavy steel blast shutter slammed down behind them, sealing the ruined front doorway and locking them inside the house.
Before they could react, a hatch on the ceiling swung open. Dominic fired a series of flash-bang grenades down into the foyer.
The room erupted in blinding white light and deafening concussive blasts. The mercenaries fell to their knees, disoriented and screaming in pain. Dominic dropped through the hatch, moving with lethal efficiency. Within thirty seconds, the four operatives inside the house were neutralized.
Outside on the driveway, Gabriel Rossi sat in the passenger seat of the lead SUV, watching the house go completely dark again. The gunfire inside had ceased abruptly.
Gabriel’s face contorted in rage. He grabbed his heavy military radio. "Vane! Report! What is happening in there?!"
Static answered him.
Gabriel slammed his fist against the dashboard. He turned to his driver, a massive man holding a belt-fed heavy machine gun. "Get the explosive charges from the trunk. We burn the entire structure. No more games!"
Suddenly, a loud thud echoed from the roof of the SUV.
Gabriel looked up in terror.
The glass sunroof exploded inward. A large hand reached through the falling glass, grabbing the driver by his collar and ripping him upward through the roof. A heavy burst of gunfire echoed outside, followed by the dead weight of the driver slamming onto the hood.
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Gabriel scrambled out of the passenger door, falling into the wet grass, pulling a heavy nickel-plated revolver from his coat. He scrambled backward toward the second SUV, his eyes wild with panic.
Through the drifting smoke and shattered glass, Dominic stepped off the roof of the vehicle, landing softly on the gravel driveway. He held a heavy combat shotgun, his dark eyes fixed on Gabriel with unyielding, terrifying purpose.
