Chapter 5 - The Siege of Potomac Estate
The Vale Estate in Potomac, Maryland, was a sprawling fifty-acre fortress surrounded by ten-foot stone walls, security cameras, and razor wire.
At 5:15 AM, thick fog rested heavily over the rolling green lawns. Inside the three-story Georgian manor, every crystal chandelier was lit.
In the grand study on the second floor, fifty-two-year-old Victoria Vale sat behind a massive mahogany executive desk.
She was an extraordinarily striking woman—wearing a sharp white Chanel suit, platinum blonde hair styled impeccably, her fingers dripping with multi-carat diamond rings.
Sitting across from her were two senior corporate attorneys and a corrupt state medical examiner holding a stack of legal transfer documents.
"Everything is prepared, Mrs. Vale," the lead attorney said, sliding a gold pen across the desk. "Once you sign these power-of-attorney forms, Charles Vale’s medical status will be officially changed to unrecoverable. You will assume seventy percent voting control over Vale Biotech at 6:00 AM."
Victoria smiled—a cold, beautiful, predatory smile as she picked up the gold pen.
"And Adrian?" Victoria asked casually. "Has the ballroom team confirmed his disposal?"
"Julian was supervising the final cleanup," the attorney replied. "He should be calling any minute."
"Good," Victoria sighed, pressing the tip of the gold pen to the paper. "My stepson was always so tedious about ethics. He inherited his mother's annoying conscience."
BOOM!
A massive explosion shattered the iron front gates of the estate half a mile down the driveway!
The entire manor shook! The crystal chandelier in the study rattled violently, sending dust dropping onto the polished mahogany desk!
Victoria’s gold pen slipped, drawing an ugly ink stain across the paper.
She stood up instantly, her face turning pale with fury. "What was that?!"
The study doors were thrown open as a terrified house security chief ran inside, his earpiece buzzing frantically.
"Mrs. Vale! We have a perimeter breach!" the chief yelled. "A heavy armored tactical vehicle just rammed through Gate 1! They've cut our security grid!"
"Deploy the Reserve guard!" Victoria shrieked, dropping her pen. "Shoot them on sight!"
Down on the grand front lawn, an armored black tactical Marauder truck smashed through the manicured rose bushes, spinning to a halt directly before the grand marble staircase of the manor.
The rear hydraulic doors hissed open.
Anika leaped out first, wearing full black tactical gear provided by Marcus—a Kevlar vest, combat boots, thigh holsters, and a silenced assault carbine attached to her chest rig.
Beside her stepped Adrian Vale, wearing a matching tactical vest over his black shirt, his jaw set like iron, holding a heavy shotgun.
Behind them stood twenty elite private security operators from Marcus's personal squad, taking tactical firing positions across the driveway.
Fifteen private Vale Reserve mercenaries—wearing the blue leather cuffs—rushed out onto the second-floor balcony, raising their automatic weapons.
"Open fire!" the mercenary captain screamed.
RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
Muzzle flashes erupted across the balcony as a hail of automatic gunfire rained down onto the driveway!
"Cover!" Adrian bellowed, grabbing Anika’s vest and pulling her behind the reinforced steel armor of the Marauder truck.
Bullets slammed into the heavy steel plating with deafening THWACK-THWACK-THWACK sounds!
Anika leaned out from behind the rear tire, bringing her assault carbine up to her eye line.
THWIP! THWIP! THWIP!
Her silenced rounds struck three balcony shooters with terrifying, surgical speed. The men dropped their weapons, crashing over the stone railing onto the rose bushes below.
"Marcus! Suppress the balcony!" Anika called out into her headset.
"Suppressing!" Marcus roared over the radio.
Two heavy sniper shots rang out from the tree line half a mile away, taking down the remaining balcony guards in three seconds!
"Move inside!" Adrian commanded.
Anika and Adrian surged up the grand marble staircase, smashing through the heavy oak front doors into the magnificent two-story marble foyer.
Inside, three mercenaries rushed down the grand curved staircase to intercept them.
Anika dropped to one knee, sweeping her carbine low to take out the legs of the first shooter, while Adrian stepped past her, firing three heavy shotgun rounds that blew through the solid mahogany banister, sending the remaining two shooters crashing onto the lower floor!
The foyers fell quiet, filled with lingering smoke and gunpowder.
Anika reloaded her carbine with a slick, lightning-fast mag-change. She looked at Adrian, a faint, dangerous smile touching her lips.
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"You shoot pretty well for a CEO," she said, catching her breath.
"I had good teachers," Adrian replied, his steel-blue eyes burning as he looked up the stairs toward the second-floor study. "Now let's go collect my family's debt."
