Chương 8 - The Crossfire
The rain fell in blinding sheets between the two groups.
Celia clutched the fake ledger in one hand and hid the small pistol in her oversized coat pocket with the other.
"Where is she, Travis?" Celia yelled over the roaring wind.
Travis gestured to the back of the parked van.
"She's resting comfortably in the back," he shouted with a vicious grin. "Bring me the book, and you can drive her home."
Lorenzo stepped slightly in front of Celia, shielding her from the six armed police officers.
"Let the girl out first," Lorenzo demanded, his voice projecting raw authority.
"That's not how a hostage exchange works, Duca," Travis spat back.
One of the corrupt cops racked the slide of his shotgun, the sound cutting sharply through the rain.
"My patience is gone," the cop warned. "Bring the book."
Lorenzo gave Celia a microscopic nod—the signal they had agreed upon in the car.
"Go," Lorenzo whispered.
Celia took a deep breath and began walking slowly across the wet concrete.
The distance felt like miles.
Every step amplified the frantic beating of her heart.
She reached the halfway point, holding the fake ledger out in front of her.
Travis eagerly stepped forward to take it, his eyes locked greedily on the black leather binding.
Just as Travis reached for the book, Lorenzo shouted a single word in Italian into his radio.
The darkness above them instantly exploded with blinding sniper lasers and suppressed gunfire.
Lorenzo's hidden men opened fire from the warehouse rafters.
Two of the corrupt cops dropped instantly to the pavement.
Chaos erupted as the remaining officers returned fire wildly into the shadows.
Lorenzo sprinted forward, tackling one of the officers and disarming him with brutal efficiency.
"Get to the van!" Lorenzo roared at Celia over the deafening gunfire.
Travis had ducked behind the engine block, abandoning the ledger in his panic.
Celia ignored the bullets sparking against the concrete around her and sprinted for the rear doors of the van.
She yanked the heavy metal handle, throwing the double doors wide open.
"Maya!" she screamed into the dark interior.
A figure was bound to a chair in the center of the van, a burlap sack tied over their head.
Celia scrambled inside, dropping the ledger and her gun to frantically tear the sack away.
The bag came off, revealing the terrified face of David, her treacherous office supervisor.
Celia froze, her mind failing to comprehend what she was seeing.
David had a massive block of C4 explosives strapped tightly to his chest.
The digital timer wired into the explosives was angrily beeping.
It read 00:09 seconds.
Travis hadn't brought Maya to the exchange at all.
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He had brought a bomb designed to kill Lorenzo and Celia together.
The timer ticked down to 00:08, and David began to scream.
