Chapter 7 - The Mastermind
The deafening blast sent a shockwave of heat and twisted metal across the docks.
Samuel's men were thrown to the ground in a chaotic scramble of dust and panic.
Luca didn't waste a single millisecond.
He grabbed Grace by the waist and threw her behind the heavy engine block of their armored car.
Titan dove in right beside them, whining as the sound of retaliatory gunfire erupted.
"Stay down!" Luca roared, pulling an assault rifle from the trunk of the car.
He returned fire, providing cover as dozens of his own loyal men swarmed the docks from the shadows.
Luca had known something was wrong the moment Rossi had easily arranged the meeting.
He had placed remote explosives around the perimeter just in case it was a trap.
"He's a monster," Grace sobbed, clutching the silver key to her chest.
"My whole life was built on a lie."
Luca knelt beside her, ducking as a bullet shattered the car window above their heads.
"Your life is built on your own strength, Grace, not his lies," Luca told her fiercely.
He pressed a loaded handgun into her trembling palm.
"If anyone who isn't me comes around this car, you pull the trigger. Do you understand?"
Grace looked at the heavy weapon, then into Luca's dark, protective eyes.
She nodded, wiping the tears from her face with the back of her sleeve.
"Good girl," Luca whispered.
He stood up and charged into the thick smoke, moving with lethal, terrifying grace.
Grace could hear the brutal sounds of close-quarters combat echoing through the fog.
Suddenly, heavy footsteps approached the rear of the car.
Grace raised the handgun with both hands, her finger trembling on the trigger.
Through the clearing smoke, a figure emerged holding a bloody knife.
It wasn't one of Samuel's guards.
It was Victor Reyes, the traitorous security chief, who had somehow escaped the panic room.
Victor smiled a grotesque, bloody smile, raising the knife to strike.
"You really thought a dog bite would stop me, little girl?" Victor sneered.
Before Grace could pull the trigger, a massive black blur exploded from under the car.
Titan hit Victor perfectly in the chest, pinning the traitor to the concrete with his massive paws.
Victor screamed, dropping the knife as Titan's jaws clamped menacingly near his face.
"Titan, hold!" Grace commanded, stepping out from behind the car with her gun raised.
She aimed the weapon directly at Victor's forehead.
"Don't move, or I promise I won't miss," Grace warned, her voice steady and cold.
Suddenly, a slow, mocking applause echoed from the top of a nearby shipping container.
Samuel Walker stood looking down at his daughter, holding a sniper rifle.
"Very impressive, Gracie," Samuel taunted.
"But you are pointing your gun at the wrong man."
Samuel shifted the barrel of his sniper rifle, aiming it directly at the center of the docks.
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Grace followed the laser sight and screamed.
The red dot was resting perfectly on the center of Luca's chest.
