Chapter 6 - The Storm on the Estate
The night sky over Lake Superior was thick with heavy snow clouds.
Two dark, unmarked Blackhawk helicopters cut through the darkness, their rotors whispering in a low, muffled hum as they swept low over the pine trees surrounding the Vance estate.
Inside the lead chopper, Colonel Bennett stood holding a tactical handrail, wearing a dark thermal jumpsuit over his fatigue uniform. Beside him, Sergeant Major Vance checked the magazine of his sidearm.
Below them, the estate was lit up like a fortress. Floodlights illuminated the perimeter fence, and four armed guards walked the driveway with heavy security dogs.
Inside the main house, Ryan Vance paced nervously in front of a stone fireplace, a glass of whiskey trembling in his hand.
"How long until the pilot is ready?!" Ryan shouted at his uncle, Richard Vance—a stout, silver-haired man in an expensive cashmere sweater who was frantically packing flash drives into a steel briefcase.
"Shut up, Ryan!" Richard spat back. "You ruined everything! You were supposed to keep the girl quiet and stable until the transfer cleared! Why the hell did you let her father in the house?!"
"I didn't let him in!" Ryan yelled, his face sweating profusely. "He showed up unannounced! He had officers with him! He pulled the blanket back, Richard! He saw what Linda did to her!"
"Linda is an idiot, and so are you!" Richard snarled. "The moment we land in Nassau, you and your mother are on your own. I’m not spending the rest of my life in ADX Florence because you couldn't control a pregnant twenty-four-year-old!"
Suddenly, every light in the mansion went completely dark.
The high-pitched hum of the backup generator kicked on for two seconds before a deafening CRACK shattered the glass roof of the atrium.
Flashbang grenades detonated in rapid succession, filling the grand living room with blinding white light and thunderous explosions.
"FEDERAL AGENTS! DOWN ON THE GROUND! DOWN ON THE GROUND!"
Armed tactical officers rappelled down through the shattered skylight, their laser sights cutting through the smoke like red knives.
Ryan dropped his glass, falling to his knees in terror, screaming as he covered his ears. "DON'T SHOOT! DON'T SHOOT! I'M UNARMED!"
The heavy oak front doors were breached with a hydraulic charge, blowing inward off their hinges.
Through the dust and debris walked Colonel Thomas Bennett.
He didn't carry a rifle. He didn't rush. He walked with the heavy, unhurried precision of an executioner.
Richard Vance reached into his coat for a small snub-nosed revolver, but before his hand could clear his jacket, Sergeant Major Vance stepped forward, smashing the butt of his rifle into Richard’s jaw, knocking him unconscious onto the rug.
Ryan scrambled backward on his hands and knees, weeping hysterically, until his back hit the base of the fireplace.
He looked up to see Colonel Bennett standing directly over him.
The shadow of the Colonel’s broad frame completely covered Ryan.
"Please..." Ryan whimpered, pressing his hands together in a desperate plea. "Colonel Bennett... please don't kill me... I was just doing what my uncle told me! It was Linda's idea to drug her! I loved Emily! I swear I loved her!"
Thomas looked down at the man who had struck his daughter, who had left handprints on her pregnant belly, who had left her bleeding and terrified under a blue blanket in a dark apartment.
Thomas bent down, grabbing Ryan by the collar of his shirt, lifting him three feet off the ground with one arm, slamming him against the stone mantlepiece.
"You don't get to say her name," Thomas said, his voice terrifyingly quiet, cold, and dark. "You don't get to breathe the same air she breathes."
"I'm sorry!" Ryan sobbed, his eyes bulging with fear. "I'm sorry!"
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"You're not sorry you hurt her," Thomas whispered into his ear. "You're sorry I came home."
Thomas let go, letting Ryan collapse into a pathetic, heap on the floor, where two federal agents instantly pinned his arms behind his back and snapped steel cuffs around his wrists.
