Chapter 7 - Silence in the Dark
The second-floor hallway was pitch black, save for the intermittent flashes of lightning splitting the stormy Long Island sky through the high arched windows. I melted into the deep shadows beside a marble pillar, my breathing slow, controlled, and silent.
Below, the heavy boots of the Vanguard clean-up crew crunched on the shattered glass of the front entryway.
"Split up," the squad leader barked in a low, raspy voice. "Two go left toward the east wing, two with me up the central staircase. Check every room. If anyone breathes, put them down."
Two dark figures separated from the group and began ascending the grand mahogany staircase. Their tactical helmets bobbed up and down as they scanned the corners with weapon-mounted flashlights, cutting sharp beams of white light through the darkness.
They were good. But they were moving in enemy territory against a man who knew every nail, board, and shadow of this estate.
I waited until the lead operator reached the top step, his tactical vest brushing against the velvet drapery. As he pivoted his rifle toward the hallway, I stepped out from behind the pillar in absolute, fluid motion.
Before he could process my presence, I grabbed the barrel of his rifle, jerking it violently downward while simultaneously driving the heel of my boot into his knee joint. With a sickening crunch, his leg buckled sideways, and he dropped heavily to the carpet.
His partner reacted with lightning speed, pivoting to bring his weapon to bear on me. But I was already moving. I dropped the HK416 on its single-point sling, drew the Sig Sauer from my thigh holster, and fired two rapid, suppressed rounds into the center of the operator's ceramic chest plate.
The kinetic impact threw him backward against the ornate wall sconce, sending him crashing to the floor in a tangled heap of tactical webbing and groans.
The first operator tried to raise his sidearm, but I kicked the gun out of his hand, pressing the barrel of my pistol squarely against his helmet visor.
"Who sent you?" I asked, my voice cutting through the patter of rain like a razor.
The man gasped for breath, his eyes wide behind his tactical goggles, recognizing the face illuminated by a flash of lightning. "Dante... holy shit... the Chairman wants you erased—"
"Which Chairman?" I pressed, tightening my grip. "The Vanguard dissolved five years ago."
"Not all of it," the operator choked out, blood pooling at the corner of his mouth. "A new board... operating out of Geneva... they found out Arthur Sterling’s family—"
He didn't get to finish the sentence. A sharp, high-velocity crack echoed through the hallway from the ground floor below, followed by a bullet chipping the marble pillar inches from my head.
Sniper.
They had an overwatch position outside in the courtyard, covering their entry team with a high-powered rifle through the second-story windows.
I grabbed the wounded operator by his tactical vest, yanked him behind the reinforced structural concrete of the hallway archway just as a second round punched through the drywall, showering us in white dust.
"Clear the hall!" the squad leader screamed from downstairs. "Suppressing fire on the balcony!"
A hail of 5.56mm rounds chewed through the wooden banisters, sending splinters flying in every direction. The estate was turning into a war zone.
I tapped my comms unit inside my collar. "Sarah, status?"
"We're locked in the panic room," her voice came back through the earpiece, trembling but controlled. "Caleb is scared, but he's safe. Dante... please don't die."
"I don't plan on it," I replied coldly.
I unclipped a tactical flashbang from my belt, pulled the pin with my teeth, and tossed it in a high arc over the grand staircase railing down toward the foyer.
May you like
Two seconds later, a blinding flash of white magnesium light turned night into day, accompanied by a thunderous concussive roar that rattled the entire foundation of the estate. Shouts of disorientation and blind panic echoed from below.
I didn't wait for them to recover. I stepped out from cover, raised my rifle, and descended into the smoke.
