Chapter 3 - The Traitor in the Shadows
Sparks flew violently as the thermal torch chewed through the heavy steel door.
Victor knew they only had seconds before the mercenaries breached the corridor.
He grabbed Sadi by the arm and pulled her deeper into the dark maintenance tunnel.
The underground passage was damp and smelled strongly of raw sewage.
They ran over the uneven concrete as the metal door behind them finally gave way.
Loud shouts and heavy combat boots echoed down the narrow tunnel.
Victor fired three suppressing shots over his shoulder to slow their pursuers.
He navigated the twisting labyrinth entirely from memory.
They finally reached an old iron ladder leading up to the city streets.
Victor pushed Sadi up the rusted rungs first.
He climbed up right behind her and shoved the heavy manhole cover aside.
They crawled out into the freezing, pouring rain of the deserted alleyway.
Victor quickly led her to a stolen black sedan hidden under a dilapidated fire escape.
He hotwired the engine in less than ten seconds.
The tires squealed loudly as they tore out of the alley and into the slick city streets.
Sadi shivered uncontrollably in the passenger seat, her yellow sweater soaked with cold rain.
Victor turned up the heat and handed her a clean microfiber cloth from the glove compartment.
He needed to figure out how the mercenaries had known his exact location.
Only his absolute most trusted lieutenants knew about the warehouse office.
Victor pulled out his encrypted phone and checked the internal security logs.
His blood ran entirely cold.
The security feed showed the mercenary strike team entering the compound without triggering the alarms.
Someone inside his inner circle had intentionally disabled the perimeter defenses.
He zoomed in on the grainy footage of the mercenary commander stepping out of an armored truck.
The commander pulled off his tactical mask to speak into his radio.
Victor stared at the digital screen in sheer disbelief.
May you like
The man leading the hit squad to kill him was Paul.
Paul had been his most loyal friend and right-hand man for fifteen years.
