Chapter 5 - Infiltration and ExposureBack at the cabin, time was running out.
Leo had managed to stand up, leaning heavily against the wooden table. He was examining the makeshift bandage on his abdomen when the front door burst open.
Leora stumbled inside, slamming the door shut behind her and sliding the iron bolt into place. Her face was flushed with exertion, her hair plastered to her forehead, but her eyes were bright.
“I got through,” she gasped, leaning against the door to catch her breath. “They’re coming. They’re using the lower drainage tunnels to bypass the front gates.”
Leo’s eyes widened in shock, quickly turning into a look of profound, overwhelming respect. “You actually made it. You talked to my security detail?”
“I did,” Leora said, pulling the Beretta out and laying it carefully on the table. “And they’re pissed. Samuel’s little coup is about to come crashing down around his ears.”
Before Leo could reply, a sudden, concussive boom echoed through the forest outside.
It wasn't thunder. It was an explosion.
The sound came from the direction of the main estate, followed seconds later by the sharp, rhythmic pop-pop-pop of suppressed automatic gunfire carrying faintly through the stormy air.
“They’ve breached the perimeter,” Leo said, his jaw tightening into granite. “The loyalists are moving in.”
“We need to get out of here,” Leora urged, stepping forward to support his weight. “If Samuel realizes his position is lost, he’ll try to wipe out any witnesses before he runs.”
As if summoned by her words, heavy boots crunched loudly on the gravel path outside the cabin.
Leo and Leora froze.
“Check the windows!” a harsh voice bellowed outside—a voice Leora recognized instantly.
It was Samuel Reed.
“Sir! There’s a faint light coming from inside!” another voice shouted.
Leo cursed under his breath, reaching for his weapon, but Leora grabbed his wrist, shaking her head fiercely.
“No. You’re still bleeding. Let me handle this,” she whispered fiercely.
Before Leo could argue, heavy blows rained down on the cabin door.
Crash!
The wooden frame splintered as a tactical boot kicked it open. Samuel Reed stepped into the dim cabin, his trench coat soaked with rain, a sleek submachine gun raised in his hands. Behind him stood two heavily armed mercenaries.
Samuel’s eyes swept the room, landing instantly on Leo standing by the table, and then drifting over to Leora, who stood calmly beside the wood-burning stove.
A cold, ugly smile spread across Samuel’s face.
“Well, well, well,” Samuel purred, lowering his weapon just a fraction as he stepped further into the room. “Look what the storm washed up. I was wondering where the little cleaning girl had disappeared to.”
“Samuel,” Leo said, his voice dripping with venomous ice as he glared at his former head of security. “You pathetic bastard. You really thought you could sell out the family and walk away?”
“It’s not personal, Leo. It’s just business,” Samuel chuckled, though his eyes remained wary, darting toward the open door behind him. “The old man’s era is over. The board voted for a new direction. You were just an unfortunate casualty of corporate restructuring.”
“Your restructuring is about to get a lot more permanent, Samuel,” a cold, booming voice echoed from the doorway behind the mercenaries.
Samuel spun around, his eyes widening in sheer horror.
Standing in the shattered frame of the doorway were three towering figures in black tactical gear, their assault rifles leveled dead-center at Samuel’s chest. Leading them was Viktor, followed by a dozen elite enforcers who had silently surrounded the cabin from the rear.
The two mercenaries standing beside Samuel slowly, deliberately dropped their weapons to the floorboards, raising their hands in the air.
Samuel’s face drained of all color. He looked down at his submachine gun, realizing too late that he had walked straight into a trap. He slowly turned his head back toward Leo, his lips trembling.
“Leo… wait—” Samuel started.
Crack.
Leo didn't hesitate. He pulled a secondary backup pistol from his waistband and fired a single shot that shattered the floorboards an inch from Samuel’s left boot.
“Take him outside,” Leo commanded coldly, his voice echoing with absolute, terrifying authority. “Strip him of his comms, put him in the back of the armored transport, and lock him in the holding cell. I want him alive for my father’s return. Every single co-conspirator he has on the payroll is going to sing before we’re done with them.”
May you like
The enforcers moved with ruthless efficiency. Samuel was grabbed by the shoulders, disarmed in a heartbeat, and dragged screaming out into the pouring rain.
Within thirty seconds, the cabin was quiet again, save for the crackling of the wood-burning stove and the patter of rain against the roof.
