Chapter 7 - The Rescue Mission
The news of her mother's capture completely broke Emma's resilient spirit.
She dropped the phone in the mud and buried her face in her bruised hands, sobbing uncontrollably.
I grabbed her shoulder and pulled her close, forcing her to look directly into my eyes.
I swore on my own life that we would get her mother back before the sun came up.
Ten minutes later, a battered cargo van pulled up to the bridge directly above us.
It was driven by old Vincenzo, a retired mob enforcer who owed me his life and absolutely hated Luke.
Vincenzo threw down a rope and helped hoist us up to the warmth of the van.
He tossed me a heavy duffel bag filled with tactical gear, loaded weapons, and a spare manual wheelchair.
I strapped myself into the chair, checking the pump action on a heavy combat shotgun.
Emma refused to stay behind in the safehouse, grabbing a small pistol from the bag.
She wiped the mud from her face, her eyes burning with a dangerous, newfound lethal intent.
We tracked the location of Marcus's men to an abandoned meatpacking warehouse on the south side of the city.
Vincenzo drove the van straight through the chain-link fence, creating a massive distraction at the front gates.
Emma and I slipped in through the dark loading docks at the rear of the building.
We moved silently through the hanging meat carcasses, taking down two guards with suppressed shots.
We finally reached the central office where Marcus was holding her mother tied to a wooden chair.
I kicked the door open and leveled my shotgun directly at Marcus's chest.
Marcus did not look surprised; he simply smiled and raised his hands in a mocking surrender.
He told me to look closely at the man standing in the dark shadows behind him.
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The man stepped forward into the dim light, and my blood turned entirely to ice.
It was Luke, but he was wearing the official badge and uniform of a federal task force commander.
