Chapter 5 - The Breach
At 2:00 AM, the estate was plunged into total darkness.
The ambient glow of the security panels died. The hum of the central heating ceased. Kael’s team had used a localized EMP charge to knock out the power grid within a two-mile radius. To an ordinary security team, it would have caused mass panic.
To Silas, it was an invitation.
He slipped on a pair of cutting-edge, quad-tube panoramic night-vision goggles. The pitch-black hallways of the mansion were instantly illuminated in a crisp, ghostly green phosphor.
He heard the faint shhh-clack of a glass cutter working on the French doors of the conservatory. They were trying to be quiet. It was a fatal mistake.
Silas moved through the shadows like a wraith. He bypassed the main corridors, utilizing the servant passageways that ran parallel to the main rooms. He reached the conservatory just as the heavy glass doors swung open.
Four heavily armed mercenaries, clad in tactical gear and suppressed submachine guns, stepped into the room. They communicated with hand signals, fanning out to secure the perimeter. Kael was not among them; he would be waiting in the getaway vehicle until the vault was cracked.
Silas didn't give them a chance to establish a beachhead.
He dropped from an interior balcony, landing silently behind the trailing mercenary. Silas wrapped one massive hand over the man’s mouth and drove a combat knife directly into the gap between his ceramic armor plates. The man went limp instantly, Silas lowering his body to the floor without making a sound.
One down. Three to go.
The lead mercenary signaled for a status check. When he didn't receive a tap on his shoulder, he turned around.
Silas was already moving. He raised his suppressed pistol and fired twice. Thwip-thwip. The lead mercenary dropped, two holes punched perfectly through the visor of his tactical helmet.
The remaining two mercenaries realized they were walking into a slaughterhouse. They abandoned stealth and opened fire, spraying the conservatory with wild, panicked bursts of automatic gunfire. Bullets shredded rare orchids and shattered antique vases.
Silas dove behind a heavy stone fountain, the marble chipping away under the hail of gunfire. He waited for the distinct click of an empty magazine.
May you like
When the pause came, Silas vaulted over the fountain, closing the distance in three massive strides. He shattered the third mercenary's windpipe with a devastating palm strike, then grabbed the man's falling rifle, spinning it around to fire a single round into the chest of the final attacker.
In less than forty-five seconds, the breach was neutralized. But Silas knew Kael wouldn't have sent just four men for a prize this big. The real assault was headed for the master suite.
