Chapter 7 - The Sky Fortress
The impenetrable steel shutters covered every single entrance to the massive residential skyscraper, locking it down completely.
Carmine had activated the building's ultimate defensive protocol, turning my own home into a towering fortress.
I knew that explosives would not breach those reinforced shutters, and we were rapidly running out of time.
I reversed the massive garbage truck, ignoring the panicked honking of early morning traffic behind us.
I told Nora to hold on tightly as I aimed the heavy vehicle directly at the reinforced glass of the adjacent commercial parking garage.
The truck shattered the massive windows, plowing through the concrete barricades and entering the multi-level garage.
I drove the truck up the winding ramps, tires screaming against the concrete until we reached the very top floor.
The roof of the parking garage was separated from the residential skyscraper by a terrifying thirty-foot gap.
However, a heavy construction crane was temporarily stationed on the garage roof for ongoing maintenance work.
I grabbed a coil of high-tension steel cable from the armory duffel bag and sprinted toward the towering yellow crane.
I climbed into the operator's cab, praying the keys were still in the ignition, and miraculously, they were.
I fired up the massive engine and swung the heavy mechanical arm directly over the dizzying thirty-foot chasm.
I extended the boom until the tip hovered precariously just a few feet above the outdoor terrace of my penthouse.
I tied one end of the steel cable securely to the crane's chassis and handed the other end to Nora.
I instructed her to attach her tactical harness to the line and slide across the terrifying drop.
Nora looked down at the street fifty stories below, swallowing her immense fear, and clipped herself to the wire.
She zipped across the dizzying gap, landing gracefully onto the expensive marble tiles of my outdoor terrace.
I quickly clipped my own harness to the cable and pushed off the concrete ledge, soaring over the deadly drop.
I landed heavily on the terrace next to Nora, immediately unclipping my harness and raising my assault rifle.
The glass doors leading into the penthouse were thick, bullet-resistant panels, but I knew their structural weakness.
I placed a small, concentrated breach charge directly on the reinforced hinges of the glass doors.
We stepped back behind a marble planter just as the explosive charge detonated with a deafening roar.
The heavy glass doors blew inward, filling the luxurious living room with a thick cloud of white smoke.
We rushed through the shattered entryway, our weapons raised and ready for an intense, close-quarters firefight.
I expected to face a dozen heavily armed mercenaries waiting in the living room.
Instead, the massive penthouse was completely silent, and the living room was entirely deserted.
I cautiously moved toward the master study where the video feed had been broadcast just minutes earlier.
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I kicked the heavy wooden door open, sweeping the room with the barrel of my rifle.
The room was completely empty, but a fresh pool of dark blood was spreading rapidly across the expensive Persian rug.
