Chapter 7 - The Barter
The security feed showed black tactical trucks forming a heavily armed ring around the Montana lodge.
Gideon stared at the screen, his jaw set in a rigid line of absolute fury.
"They want my son," Gideon repeated, the words sounding like a death sentence for anyone who tried to enforce it.
"They know he is your only weakness, Boss," Elias said, leaning heavily against a wooden table.
"If they take Leo, they control you completely."
Maya felt a cold, primal mother's rage ignite in her chest.
She walked over to the armory cabinet in the corner of the room and pulled out a tactical vest.
"No one is taking my child," Maya said, her voice steady and terrifyingly calm.
Gideon walked over and gently took the vest out of her hands.
"You are not fighting this war, Maya," he told her firmly.
"I am the reason they are out there, and I am the one who will end them."
Gideon turned to Elias, his orders snapping through the room with military precision.
"Lock down the inner vault, put Maya and Leo inside, and do not open the door until I come back."
"If I don't come back, you trigger the tunnel explosives and get them to Canada."
Maya grabbed his arm.
"Gideon, you cannot fight fifty men alone, that's suicide!" she pleaded.
He pulled her close and kissed her deeply, pouring five years of desperate love into a single moment.
"I already died the day you left that office in Boston," he whispered against her lips.
"I am just returning the favor."
Gideon loaded two heavy rifles, strapped on his body armor, and walked out the front doors into the freezing night.
Maya watched him through the reinforced glass, her heart screaming in protest.
Elias grabbed her shoulder gently.
"Come on, Maya, we have to get to the vault," he urged.
They rushed down the hallway toward the panic room, but Elias suddenly stopped dead in his tracks.
He looked down at his encrypted tablet, his eyes widening in absolute horror.
"The mercenaries aren't attacking the front," Elias realized, panic lacing his voice.
May you like
"It's a distraction."
Before Maya could react, the floor beneath them violently exploded.
