Chapter 5 - The Hostage Trade
Damien turned around slowly, raising his pistol with terrifying, mechanical precision.
The head of security did not even have time to unholster his own weapon before Damien shot him directly in the knee.
The traitor collapsed to the concrete floor, screaming in absolute, blinding agony.
"How long have you been secretly working for Vincent?" Damien demanded, pressing his heavy boot onto the man's bleeding wound.
"Long enough to know that you are already completely surrounded," the traitor spat, laughing through his immense pain.
Maren clutched her baby tighter, terrified by the sheer, unapologetic violence erupting in her supposed safe haven.
She realized that as long as she was standing next to Damien, she and her daughter would be permanent targets.
While Damien was aggressively interrogating the bleeding guard, Maren made a desperate, highly irrational decision born of maternal panic.
She quietly wrapped the baby in a warm winter coat and slipped unnoticed through the bunker's secondary emergency escape hatch.
She thought she could disappear back into the Boston night and keep her daughter completely safe from the escalating mafia war.
She emerged into a dark, freezing alleyway, shivering in the cold autumn air as she held her breath.
But she was absolutely not alone.
A black van suddenly screeched to a halt right in front of her, entirely blocking her path to the main street.
Marcus Ashford stepped out of the driver's seat, holding a heavy revolver with shaking, inexperienced hands.
"My daughter is currently sitting in federal custody because of your boyfriend," Marcus snarled, his eyes wide with madness.
He forcefully grabbed Maren by the arm, completely ignoring the innocent, crying baby clutched to her chest.
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"Now I am going to take everything he loves," Marcus declared with a sickening smile.
Before Maren could even scream for help, a heavy, chemical-soaked cloth covered her mouth, and her world faded into complete darkness.
