Chapter 7 - THE BETRAYAL OF BENNETT
The peace was broken at three o'clock on Tuesday morning.
A loud explosion rocked the foundation of the Brooklyn brownstone, shattering the reinforced windows on the lower levels. Alarm sirens began to blare, their red emergency lights flashing rhythmically against the exposed brick walls of the penthouse.
Avery sat up in bed instantly, her heart slamming into her throat.
Before she could throw off the covers, the bedroom door burst open. Luca stepped inside, fully dressed in black tactical gear, a heavy black hand-cannon strapped to his thigh and an assault rifle held securely in his hands.
"Luca!" Avery cried out. "What's happening?"
"They bypassed the outer gate," Luca said, his voice cold, calm, and utterly focused. "Richard Bennett used a master key card to access the building's maintenance sub-level. He sold out the building's structural layout to Mercer's mercenaries."
Avery felt a sickening knot tie itself in her stomach. Her own father had handed over the blueprints of the safehouse to a heavily armed hit squad.
"Julian is holding the primary elevator shaft," Luca continued, pulling a light Kevlar vest over Avery's sweater and pulling the straps tight around her chest. "We need to move to the rooftop helipad. We have an extraction chopper ten minutes out."
"Is my father down there?" Avery asked, her voice shaking with rage and disbelief.
"He's down there," Luca said grimly. "And Mercer brought twenty heavily armed contractors. They’re tearing the lower floors apart."
Suddenly, the elevator doors at the end of the hallway shattered with a deafening metallic crunch. Heavy gunfire erupted through the corridors—the rapid, terrifying chatter of automatic weapons mixed with the sharp, loud cracks of Julian’s security detail returning fire.
"Move!" Luca commanded, grabbing Avery’s hand and pulling her toward the private stairwell that led to the roof.
They sprinted up the iron staircase as smoke began to billow from the lower floors. Behind them, heavy footsteps pounded up the stairs.
"In there! Go!" a voice barked from below.
Luca turned on the landing, pushed Avery behind him against the concrete wall, stepped into the open doorway, and fired three precise shots down the stairwell. Three loud thuds echoed, followed by the sound of bodies tumbling down the iron steps.
Luca slammed the heavy iron door shut, flipped a mechanical lock, and dragged a heavy steel beam across the frame to barricade it.
"That will buy us three minutes," Luca said, wiping a streak of black soot from his forehead.
They burst out onto the open roof. The rain was torrential, driven by howling coastal winds. The New York skyline was barely visible through the thick grey fog.
In the center of the roof, the landing lights of the helipad flickered on. The rhythmic thump-thump-thump of a helicopter's rotors cut through the sound of the wind as a black chopper hovered fifty feet above the building, preparing to descend.
Suddenly, the heavy iron door behind them blew outward in a shower of sparks and concrete dust.
Four men in black tactical uniforms burst onto the roof, weapons raised. Behind them stepped Caleb Mercer, wearing a heavy black trench coat, his eyes wild with unhinged, violent desperation. Beside him stood Richard Bennett, looking pale and terrified, clutching a silver handgun with trembling hands.
"Avery!" Richard screamed over the roar of the helicopter rotors. "Get away from him! It’s over!"
Luca immediately shifted his body, standing completely in front of Avery, turning himself into a human shield, his rifle raised and locked onto Caleb's chest.
"Put the gun down, Luca!" Caleb yelled, his voice laced with manic triumph. "You're surrounded! I have twelve more men coming up the fire escape! You lost!"
Avery stepped out from behind Luca, her dark hair blowing wildly in the tempestuous wind. She looked past Caleb, straight into the eyes of her father.
"Father," Avery said, her voice piercing through the storm. "You brought mercenaries to kill me?"
"I brought them to save you!" Richard cried out, his voice cracking. "You ruined the family name, Avery! You ruined the company! If you just come home and sign the conservatorship papers, Caleb will forget all of this! We can fix this!"
"You're pathetic," Avery said, her voice cold and full of disgust. "You don't care about me. You never did. You only care about your money."
"Enough of this nonsense!" Caleb barked, raising his weapon toward Luca. "Shoot the mobster! Secure the girl!"
Before Caleb’s men could pull their triggers, a brilliant, blinding searchlight lit up the roof from above.
A second, massive, unmarked military-grade transport helicopter descended out of the low clouds directly over the roof. The side doors flew open, and six snipers clad in full tactical armor lowered themselves on ropes, their red laser sights instantly painting the chests of Caleb’s mercenaries.
Julian’s voice boomed over the helicopter's external PA system: "Drop your weapons or be annihilated!"
Caleb’s men froze. They looked up at the massive chopper hovering overhead, then down at the red laser dots covering their bodies. They knew instantly they were outgunned. One by one, the mercenaries lowered their rifles and dropped them onto the wet gravel of the roof.
"No! What are you doing?!" Caleb screamed, grabbing one of his men by the vest. "Pick up your guns! Shoot them!"
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Luca stepped forward slowly, his heavy black handgun pointed squarely at Caleb Mercer’s forehead.
"It’s over, Mercer," Luca said quietly, his voice carrying an absolute, terrifying weight. "You brought a knife to a war."
