Chapter 4 - The Siege of Pine Ridge
Sarah didn't panic. Her reaction was instantaneous, smooth, and chillingly professional.
She pulled a compact suppressed pistol from her shoulder holster, checked the chamber with a quick slide back, and looked at me.
"Lock this door from the inside," Sarah ordered, her voice dropping into an icy military tone. "Do not open it for anyone unless you hear my voice give the passphrase 'Winter Solstice'. Understand?"
"I'm coming with you to the security room," I said, setting my tea mug down.
"Violet, you're a recovery patient with cracked ribs—"
"I spent three years mapping Victor's entire operation," I interrupted, staring straight into her eyes. "I know the men he hires. If he put out a hit, it isn't random mercenaries. It's his two lead construction foremen—Marcus and Clyde. They know how to bypass standard security grids because they installed them on Victor's properties."
Sarah paused, re-evaluating me in a split second. "All right. Stay behind me. Do exactly what I say."
We moved quickly down the dimly lit hallway into the central security control hub. On the wall hung six large high-definition monitors displaying live infrared feeds from the surrounding forest.
The south perimeter monitor showed two tall men wearing tactical jackets and ski masks, cutting through the heavy steel chain-link fence with hydraulic cutters. One carried a suppressed submachine gun; the other carried a heavy breaching shotgun.
"It's Marcus and Clyde," I pointed at the screen. "Marcus has a limp in his left knee from a job site accident three years ago. See how he shifts his weight?"
"They're moving toward the generator shed," Sarah noted, her fingers flying across the control panel. "They want to kill the main power grid and cut our hardline communications."
"Let them," I suggested unexpectedly.
Sarah turned her head to look at me. "Excuse me?"
"The safehouse runs on an auxiliary solar-charged lithium battery system buried beneath the basement floor," I explained, remembering the blueprints I had memorized when Victor discussed building secure retreats for his high-paying corrupt clients. "If they cut the main generator, they think we'll be in total darkness. But if we kill the exterior lights manually right as they strike the generator, they'll walk straight into the open courtyard thinking we're blind."
A slow, appreciative smile spread across Sarah's face. "A tactical ambush using their own assumption against them. I like the way your mind works, Violet."
Through the monitors, we watched Marcus reach the exterior generator shed and raise his silenced pistol, firing three shots into the main power control unit.
Sparks flew across the screen.
Instantly, Sarah hit the master override switch. Every light inside and outside the stone cabin plunged into absolute, pitch-black darkness.
Outside, the rain poured down in torrents.
Inside the control room, Sarah flipped down a pair of military-grade night-vision goggles, handing a second pair to me. The dark room instantly transformed into a bright, crisp green landscape.
"Stay behind the reinforced desk," Sarah instructed, pulling a second weapon from a drawer and handing it to me—a small, lightweight stun taser. "If anyone comes through that door who isn't wearing a green glow marker on their helmet... pull the trigger."
The heavy front door of the cabin downstairs burst open with a loud crunch of splintering wood.
Heavy, wet boots marched into the lower hallway.
"Check the upstairs!" Marcus’s rough voice echoed up the stairwell. "Find the girl! Victor said ten grand bonus if we bring her phone back!"
May you like
I crouched behind the steel-reinforced oak desk, my fingers gripping the rubberized handle of the taser. My heart was pounding against my broken ribs, each beat sending a sharp needle of pain through my side. But for the first time in my life, I wasn't running. I wasn't hiding in the center of the living room waiting for a fist to strike my face.
I was waiting for the enemy to step into my kill zone.
