Chapter 7 - The Battle at the Docks
The rain fell in heavy, gray sheets over the industrial waterfront of South Seattle.
The abandoned fish processing plant was a massive, rusted structure surrounded by shipping containers and dark, oily water. Inside, thirty armed Falcone mercenaries were preparing heavy weapons under the command of Sal Falcone—a heavy, brutal man in his sixties with a reputation for merciless cruelty.
"Load the vans!" Sal barked, puffing on a cigar. "We hit the Mercer Island house at noon! Kill everyone inside! I want Dante Moretti’s head on a spike!"
Suddenly, the lights inside the factory cut out completely.
Total darkness plunged the building into silence.
"What the hell?!" Sal shouted, drawing a revolver. "Check the generators!"
Before a mercenary could step forward, the massive iron corrugated doors of the factory were blown off their hinges by three simultaneous breaching charges.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The blinding glare of tactical spotlights cut through the smoke as a dozen flashbang grenades exploded inside the building.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
Chaos erupted.
Dante Moretti stepped through the smoke like an angel of death, dressed in black tactical gear, a suppressed assault rifle raised to his shoulder. Beside him, Vance and Dominic moved with military precision, clearing the floor with terrifying efficiency.
Gunfire echoed off the steel girders like bursts of thunder.
Dante moved with lethal, unstoppable focus. Every bullet he fired was driven by the image of his daughter’s smile and the memory of Claire’s lips. He wasn't fighting for power or territory anymore; he was fighting for a family he refused to lose.
Within ten minutes, Sal Falcone’s men were completely neutralized, disarmed, or fleeing into the rain.
Sal Falcone stumbled backward into the office section of the plant, blood streaming from a wound on his arm, his hands trembling as he tried to reload his revolver.
The heavy door was kicked off its frame.
Dante stepped into the office. His jacket was torn, soot streaked across his jaw, but his brown eyes were cold, clear, and absolute.
Sal dropped his gun, collapsing against the wall, weeping in terror. "Dante! Please! We can make a deal! The docks are yours! Everything is yours!"
Dante walked up to Sal, standing over him like a stone monument.
"You threatened my family, Sal," Dante said, his voice carrying the terrifying weight of a final judgment. "You threatened my daughter."
"I didn't know!" Sal shrieked. "I swear I didn't know!"
Dante raised his weapon.
May you like
"Now you know," Dante whispered.
A single shot echoed through the empty factory floor, bringing an end to the twenty-year war that had plagued Seattle's underworld.
