Chapter 19 - The Extraction
The explosion tore the heavy steel door of the bunker clean off its hinges.
Smoke and debris filled the small room, blinding everyone. The alarms in Arthur’s estate began to shriek into the night.
Daniel had lied. The cabin on the drone feed wasn't hiding his family. It was a massive, booby-trapped kill-box designed by Jax, specifically meant to lure and annihilate the cartel’s elite hit squad. Emma and Megan were safely on a private jet thousands of miles away, guarded by Captain Reynolds.
Through the thick smoke of the bunker, a massive figure stepped into the room.
It was Jax, clad in full tactical combat gear, wielding a heavy assault shotgun.
"Room clear!" Jax roared, firing a deafening blast that sent El Espectro’s massive enforcer flying backward into the concrete wall.
Arthur Sterling screamed in terror, dropping his bourbon glass and scrambling backward into the corner like a frightened rat.
El Espectro, however, did not panic. He drew his pistol with lightning speed and fired wildly into the smoke at Jax.
Jax took a bullet to his ceramic chest plate, stumbling backward with a grunt.
In the chaos, Daniel ignored the agonizing pain in his ribs. He threw his weight entirely to the left, crashing his heavy steel chair onto the floor. The impact shattered the hard plastic housing of the zip-ties binding his wrists.
Daniel was free.
He scrambled to his feet just as El Espectro turned his pistol toward him.
Daniel didn't run away. He lunged directly into the barrel of the gun. He grabbed El Espectro’s wrist with both hands, twisting it violently upward. The gun fired into the ceiling, raining sparks down upon them.
The two men crashed into the table, grappling fiercely in the smoke-filled room.
El Espectro was highly trained, but Daniel was fighting with the feral, unstoppable rage of a father protecting his child.
Daniel drove his knee into El Espectro’s stomach, forcing him to drop the gun. El Espectro retaliated with a vicious elbow to Daniel’s jaw, momentarily stunning him.
El Espectro reached for the encrypted flash drive lying on the floor.
"It's mine!" El Espectro hissed, his fingers brushing the plastic drive.
Daniel tackled him from behind, wrapping his arm around the cartel boss’s throat in a flawless chokehold. He squeezed with every ounce of strength he possessed, cutting off the blood flow to El Espectro’s brain.
El Espectro thrashed wildly, clawing at Daniel’s arms, but Daniel’s grip was like an iron vise.
Within ten seconds, El Espectro’s eyes rolled back, and his body went completely limp.
Daniel dropped the unconscious cartel boss to the floor, panting heavily, his muscles screaming in agony.
He scooped the flash drive off the floor and tucked it securely into his pocket.
"Carter! We have to move!" Jax shouted, recovering from the shot to his armor. "The estate's private army is swarming the basement!"
Daniel looked over at Arthur Sterling. The billionaire was trying to crawl out through the shattered doorway, whimpering in fear.
Daniel walked over, grabbed Arthur by his expensive silk collar, and effortlessly hoisted him to his feet.
"You are coming with us, Arthur," Daniel growled, shoving him toward Jax. "You are going to confess to everything."
"They will kill me!" Arthur sobbed, his aristocratic arrogance completely shattered. "The cartel will kill me in prison!"
"Then you better hope the FBI gets to you first," Daniel replied coldly.
Jax threw a smoke grenade into the hallway, providing absolute cover.
They dragged Arthur through the chaotic, burning corridors of the estate. The private guards were entirely disorganized, blinded by the smoke and terrified by Jax’s overwhelming suppressive fire.
They burst through the heavy maintenance hatch and out into the freezing, torrential rain.
A sleek black tactical helicopter was hovering inches above the manicured lawn, its rotors creating a hurricane of wind and water.
Victoria was sitting in the co-pilot seat, waving frantically for them to hurry.
Daniel shoved Arthur into the back of the helicopter, then climbed in beside Jax.
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As the helicopter pulled up and soared into the stormy night sky, Daniel looked down at the burning estate.
The nightmare was finally over. He had the ledger. He had the traitor. He had won.
