Chapter 7 - The Federal Siege
The floor beneath us vibrated violently as the countdown timers on the hidden explosives began to beep simultaneously.
"Run!" I roared, grabbing Michael by the shoulder and shoving him hard toward the open doorway of the command center.
We sprinted frantically down the concrete corridor, our boots pounding loudly against the cold, damp floor.
Mia was right behind us, abandoning her calm federal agent persona for sheer, desperate panic.
We dove through the heavy steel exterior doors just as a deafening explosion ripped through the core of the fortress.
The massive shockwave threw us violently across the jagged rocks, raining burning concrete and hot metal down upon us.
I covered my head, ears ringing intensely as the entire central command room collapsed into a blazing inferno of destruction.
I slowly forced myself up, coughing out thick black smoke and wiping a stream of blood from my forehead.
Michael groaned beside me, clutching his side but miraculously still holding onto his primary weapon.
Mia lay on the ground a few feet away, her leg pinned underneath a heavy, smoldering slab of concrete.
"Help me!" she screamed, desperately trying to push the massive stone off her crushed limb.
I walked over to her, staring down at the woman who had helped orchestrate the absolute destruction of my life.
For a dark, fleeting second, the ruthless mob boss inside me wanted to leave her there to burn.
But I remembered the promise I had made to Claire years ago to be a better, different kind of man.
I grabbed a thick metal pipe from the debris and wedged it under the concrete slab, using all my strength to pry it up.
Michael pulled Mia free, throwing her arm over his shoulder as we limped away from the burning wreckage.
We found a small, motorized zodiac boat hidden in a rocky cove on the dark side of the island.
The cold wind whipped against our faces as we sped across the lake, racing desperately back toward the city limits.
"Where is the underground bunker located, Mia?" I demanded over the loud roar of the boat's outboard motor.
She grimaced in pain, pulling a small, waterproof GPS tracker from her tactical vest pocket.
"It is hidden directly beneath your own flagship restaurant in the downtown district," she confessed breathlessly.
Claire had hidden her massive, deadly trap in the exact place I thought I controlled the most.
As the city skyline finally came into view, my encrypted satellite phone suddenly vibrated in my soaked pocket.
May you like
I answered it, expecting to hear Claire's voice, but instead, I heard the cold, metallic click of a gun hammer locking back.
"You should have stayed on the island, Daniel, because the FBI just surrounded the restaurant, and they have orders to shoot on sight."
