Chapter 7 - The Siege of the Bay
The attack came at midnight.
There were no warnings, no polite knocks on the door, no federal warrants.
A heavy, modified Ford F-250 smashed straight through the outer security gates, its engine roaring as it tore across the manicured lawn toward the front terrace. Behind it came two black Suburbans with their headlights off, tires throwing gravel and mud into the night air.
Bang! Bang-bang!
Automatic gunfire shattered the reinforced glass of the grand foyer windows, raining jagged diamonds across the marble floor.
I ducked behind the heavy mahogany dining table in the adjacent parlor, pulling my knees to my chest as bullets splintered the antique wood above my head.
“Stay down!” Gabriel’s voice bellowed from the hallway.
He was already moving, sliding across the slick tile with his SIG Sauer raised, firing precise, rhythmic bursts toward the front entrance. Leo and two other guards held the flank by the kitchen doors, returning heavy fire with tactical carbines that lit up the smoke-filled room with flashes of orange light.
Glass shattered everywhere. The air tasted of cordite, copper, and dust.
Through the broken picture window, I saw them—half a dozen armed enforcers pouring through the shattered front doors, wearing tactical gear and bearing Vescari’s crest. They weren't here to negotiate. They were here to burn the house to the ground and recover the server drives before the feds arrived.
A heavy-set operative kicked open the parlor door, raising his rifle straight toward my head.
Before I could even scream, a dark blur dropped from the second-floor gallery overhead.
Gabriel slammed into the operative like a freight train, driving him hard into the mahogany bookshelf. Books rained down like falling leaves as Gabriel’s fist connected with the man’s jaw with a sickening crack. The operative slumped unconscious to the floor.
Gabriel didn't hesitate. He grabbed my arm, hauled me to my feet, and pulled me toward the private elevator hidden behind the study bookshelf.
“The panic room!” Gabriel shouted over the roar of gunfire echoing from the hall.
“No!” I yelled, digging my heels into the Persian rug. “If we go into the panic room, they’ll trap us like rats and blow the foundation! We have to go to the server room!”
Gabriel stared at me, his eyes wide with adrenaline and fury. “Are you out of your mind? There’s an entire kill squad in the hallway!”
“Which is why they aren't guarding the cliffside balcony!” I grabbed his jacket, pulling him toward the french doors leading out to the rear terrace. “The coast guard chopper is five minutes out! If we upload the decrypted files to the federal secure relay from the external terminal, Vescari’s entire syndicate is finished before they reach the stairs!”
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Gabriel looked at me for one breathless second. Then, a fierce, reckless grin cut across his face.
“Let’s give them a show,” he said.
