Chapter 25 - The Ambush at the Docks
"Down!" Marcus roared.
He tackled Claire behind a massive marble pillar just as a hail of suppressed automatic gunfire shredded the air, sending stone chips flying like lethal shrapnel.
Claire didn't panic. Reaching into her coat, she pulled out a small tactical flashbang grenade—a precaution she had insisted on carrying since their encounter in New York six months prior.
"Marcus! On three!" Claire yelled over the deafening echoes of gunfire.
Marcus looked at her, a fierce, wicked grin breaking across his dust-covered face. "I love you, woman!"
Claire pulled the pin, cooked it for one second, and banked it off the far wall directly into the center of the mercenary group.
BANG-FLASH!
A blinding wave of light and sound paralyzed the attackers. Marcus stepped out from behind the pillar with lethal precision. Three clean, suppressed shots echoed through the hall. Three mercenaries dropped instantly. The fourth attempted to raise his rifle, but Marcus closed the distance in two rapid strides, disarming the man, breaking his wrist with a sickening crack, and slamming him headfirst into the stone floor.
"Clear!" Marcus shouted, panting as he grabbed the fallen soldier's encrypted radio.
Over the radio frequency, a voice spoke in cold, accented English. "Team One, status. Have you secured the glass drive from Marcus Sterling?"
Marcus pressed the push-to-talk button.
"Tell Victor he’s going to need a bigger team," Marcus said, his voice dropping into an icy promise. "And tell him I’m coming for his neck."
They scrambled up the service stairs, bursting out into the freezing Geneva air through a rear alleyway exit.
Their Mercedes was sitting fifty yards away, its windshield shattered, the driver slumped over the wheel.
"They took out our transport!" Claire said, checking the perimeter.
Across the street, a sleek black speed boat idling in the dark waters of Lake Geneva revved its twin engines. Standing on the stern, illuminated by the city lights, was Victor Vance, holding a remote detonator.
"Marcus!" Victor yelled across the snow-covered street, his voice echoing over the water. "Did you really think I’d let you leave Switzerland alive?!"
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Victor pressed the remote button.
A series of loud explosions ripped through the nearby streetlights, plunging the entire docks into total darkness, while two heavy SUVs sped down the alley, boxing Marcus and Claire against the freezing waters of the lake.
