Chapter 7 - The Mercenary Assault
The thick, acrid smoke instantly filled the luxury suite, completely blinding me as the tactical mercenaries stormed the room.
The deafening sound of shattering glass and heavy boots hitting the floor sent a massive jolt of pure adrenaline straight through my veins.
I aggressively scrambled across the floor, coughing violently as the heavy smoke burned my throat and lungs.
I practically dove onto the massive bed, fiercely throwing my body entirely over Ellie to shield her from the complete chaos.
"Do not move a single muscle!" one of the heavily armed mercenaries roared loudly, his voice completely muffled by his tactical gas mask.
The aggressive mercenaries completely ignored my father and me on the bed.
They aggressively moved with lethal, terrifying precision entirely toward Linda, who was screaming hysterically in the corner.
"Gary sent you, didn't he?" Linda shrieked wildly, desperately trying to crawl away despite her heavily broken arm.
"You are officially a massive liability to the organization, Mrs. Sterling," the lead mercenary stated coldly, raising his heavy weapon.
My father, who had been a highly decorated combat officer before he ever became a ruthless lawyer, didn't hesitate for a single second.
He aggressively lunged completely out of the thick smoke, violently driving the heavy brass lamp entirely into the lead mercenary's masked face.
The brutal impact completely shattered the mercenary's tactical visor, dropping the massive man instantly to the floor.
"Run into the bathroom, Sarah, right now!" my dad roared loudly, grabbing the dropped mercenary's heavy assault rifle.
I didn't wait to be told twice.
I scooped Ellie tightly into my arms and practically sprinted aggressively through the thick smoke entirely toward the marble bathroom.
I forcefully kicked the heavy wooden door completely shut and aggressively locked the deadbolt, sliding heavily to the cold tile floor.
Deafening, aggressive gunfire erupted violently in the main suite, the heavy bullets tearing aggressively through the expensive drywall.
Ellie sobbed uncontrollably, aggressively burying her bandaged face entirely into my chest.
"It is okay, baby, Grandpa is going to completely protect us," I lied desperately, completely terrified that my father was actively dying in the next room.
The violent shootout lasted for less than thirty agonizing seconds, but it felt like an absolute eternity.
The heavy gunfire completely ceased, replaced by the terrifying, deafening silence of the ruined hotel suite.
I held my breath completely, staring directly at the locked bathroom door, absolutely terrified of who was actually going to open it.
A loud, aggressive knock echoed from the heavy wood.
"Sarah, it is completely clear, open the door," my father's calm, authoritative voice commanded smoothly.
I quickly unlocked the deadbolt and slowly pushed the heavy door entirely open.
The luxury suite was completely and utterly destroyed, the expensive furniture heavily shredded by automatic gunfire.
Two of the heavily armed mercenaries were completely dead on the plush carpet.
The third mercenary was aggressively zip-tied to a heavy chair, completely unconscious and bleeding heavily from a nasty head wound.
My father stood completely unharmed in the center of the room, casually holding the heavy assault rifle like he had just finished a routine golf game.
Linda was aggressively huddled in the corner, entirely uninjured by the gunfire but completely catatonic with pure terror.
"Did Gary actually hire an elite hit squad to completely kill his own wife?" I asked, my voice cracking entirely with absolute disbelief.
My father slowly shook his head, looking aggressively at the unconscious mercenary tied to the chair.
"These highly trained men are definitely not cheap, local thugs hired by a simple, corrupt judge, Sarah."
My dad aggressively ripped the tactical vest completely off the unconscious mercenary.
Underneath the heavy armor, the man was wearing a dark, very specific corporate uniform.
"This man actively works for Vanguard Global," my father noted quietly, his sharp legal mind instantly connecting the massive dots.
I stared at the heavily armored logo, completely confused by the massive corporate involvement.
"Vanguard is the massive real estate development company that practically owns half of the state," I stated firmly.
"Exactly," my father smiled darkly, his eyes gleaming with aggressive, lethal intent.
"Gary hasn't just been simply taking small, pathetic bribes from local contractors."
"Gary has been actively laundering hundreds of millions of dollars for a massive, heavily armed corporate syndicate."
I felt a sudden, sickening knot form entirely in my stomach.
This was no longer just a pathetic, toxic family desperately trying to cover up a horrific assault on a toddler.
This was a massive, lethal corporate conspiracy, and we were officially standing directly in their aggressive crosshairs.
"They actively tried to kill Linda because she officially knows exactly where all the laundered money is deeply hidden," my dad deduced smoothly.
Suddenly, the heavy hotel phone on the ruined nightstand began to ring aggressively.
My father casually picked up the heavy receiver, putting the aggressive call entirely on speakerphone.
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"You are officially out of your depth, Richard," Gary's cold, utterly confident voice echoed loudly into the ruined room.
"I just officially signed an emergency court order giving Vanguard Global private security full legal authorization to aggressively extract my deranged wife from your hotel."
