Chapter 7 - The Hostage
The deafening explosion threw Adrian violently across the small living room.
Thick smoke instantly filled the safehouse as a squad of heavily armed mercenaries stormed through the shattered doorway.
Dominic had secretly placed a GPS tracker inside the stolen ledger Clara had been carrying.
Adrian scrambled to his feet, drawing his weapon and firing with absolute, lethal precision.
Two mercenaries dropped immediately, but the sheer volume of suppressing fire forced Adrian and Enzo behind a overturned heavy sofa.
Bullets tore through the drywall, shattering windows and completely destroying Clara's computer equipment.
Clara screamed, diving over the coffee table to shield Lily from the relentless hail of gunfire.
Adrian fought like a possessed demon, completely ignoring the burning graze of a bullet against his shoulder.
His mind was totally clear, his reflexes perfectly restored by the sleep he had been denied for years.
He moved flawlessly through the chaos, neutralizing three more attackers with brutal, calculated efficiency.
Enzo covered his blind spot, moving like a phantom through the smoke and dropping enemies with ruthless accuracy.
The firefight was incredibly intense, but the elite training of Adrian and his enforcer quickly turned the tide.
Realizing they were losing the battle, the remaining mercenary captain made a desperate, cowardly move.
He blindly grabbed the nearest target through the thick smoke, wrapping his massive arm around a tiny, screaming figure.
The mercenary threw a flashbang grenade into the center of the room, blinding everyone in a searing burst of white light.
When Adrian's vision finally cleared a few seconds later, the safehouse was completely silent and empty of enemies.
He turned around, his heart stopping completely as Clara fell to her knees, sobbing in absolute, uncontrollable agony.
The mercenaries had retreated into the night, but they had taken little Lily with them.
Before Adrian could speak, his burner phone began ringing loudly on the blood-stained floor.
He answered it, his knuckles turning totally white as he gripped the device.
May you like
Dominic's arrogant, cruel voice echoed through the speaker, dripping with absolute malice.
He demanded that Adrian come to the shipping warehouse completely unarmed in thirty minutes to sign the papers, or the little girl would disappear forever.
