Chapter 6 - The Siege of Blackwood Bay
"DOWN!" Daniel roared.
In a fraction of a second, Daniel launched his body across the space between them, tackling Rachel and the baby off the rocking chair, covering them both with his broad frame as a hail of automatic gunfire tore through the outer wood panels of the nursery wall.
Plaster dust, shattered glass, and the smell of cordite filled the room.
Leo let out a sharp, terrified cry, but Rachel immediately tucked him beneath her torso, covering his ears, humming low and hard against his chest despite the deafening noise.
"Matteo!" Daniel shouted into the comms unit attached to his collar, his hand reaching behind his back to pull a heavy matte-black pistol from his belt holster. "Report!"
"Boss!" Matteo’s panicked voice crackled over the radio amidst the sound of roaring automatic fire below. "Two speedboats landed at the private dock below the cliff! They brought heavy ordnance! They breached the Southside terrace!"
"How many?!" Daniel growled, keeping his body pinned over Rachel and the child.
"At least twenty shooters! It's Victor Moretti himself! He knows the feds are closing in—he's going for a suicide strike!"
The lights in the nursery flickered and died as the estate's main generator was cut. The room plunged into a dark, smoky gloom, lit only by the red emergency strobes flashing in the corridor outside.
Daniel looked down at Rachel.
Her face was covered in plaster dust, her eyes wide with fear, but she was holding Leo tight against her chest, her body locked into a human shield over the baby.
"Listen to me," Daniel commanded, his voice dead calm amidst the chaos. "The back wall of the nursery has a reinforced security panel. It leads to a hidden panic room built inside the cliff rock. It has its own air supply and a steel door that can't be breached from the outside."
He reached behind the sage-green bookshelf, pressing a hidden biometric scanner.
With a heavy hydraulic hiss, a section of the wall slid open, revealing a small, well-lit room fitted with leather chairs, medical supplies, and emergency monitors.
"Get inside," Daniel said, pulling her up by her arm and ushering her into the vault. "Stay inside until I come for you."
Rachel grabbed his sleeve, her eyes wild with panic. "Daniel, wait! What about you?!"
Daniel looked at her—the first time she had ever called him by his first name. A cold, lethal confidence settled over his features, his dark eyes blazing with the terrifying fire of a dragon defending his lair.
"This is my house, Rachel," Daniel said quietly. "And those men came to hurt my family."
He reached out, his hand gently touching her cheek for a brief second, his thumb wiping a smudge of dust from her skin.
"Lock the door," he ordered.
Before she could speak, Daniel hit the internal lock button. The heavy steel vault door slid shut with a deafening THUD, sealing Rachel and Leo inside the impenetrable sanctuary.
Outside in the corridor, Daniel turned toward the stairs.
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He racked the slide of his pistol with a sharp, metallic CLACK.
The mob boss of Boston was no longer protecting a hospital room. He was executing a war.
