Chapter 6 - Fire and Steel
“Boss! We’ve got incoming!” Marco’s voice barked through the earpiece. “Two heavy vehicles just pulled into the front yard! It’s Cassian Vance himself!”
Aleandro’s eyes turned to ice. He tightened his hold on Clara, cradling her head securely against his chest with his left arm while drawing his pistol with his right.
“Get the girl to the lead SUV,” Aleandro ordered his tactical lieutenant, hand-delivering Clara to his most trusted driver, Thomas. “Thomas, drive her straight to the estate. Do not stop for anything. If a tire blows, keep driving on the rims.”
“Understood, boss!” Thomas wrapped Clara in a blanket, placed her safely in the back seat of the armored vehicle, and sped out through the alleyway into the night.
Aleandro turned back toward the main warehouse floor, his eyes burning with a lethal fire.
The heavy front doors of the cold-storage building were rammed open by a heavy pickup truck.
Eight armed men spilled into the building, led by Cassian Vance—a tall, scar-faced man in an expensive tailored coat, holding a heavy gold-plated revolver.
“Moretti!” Cassian’s booming voice echoed off the steel rafters. “I know you’re in here! Did you really think I wouldn’t realize your little bride was feeding us fake Intel about Pier 42?!”
Aleandro stepped out onto the high metal catwalk overlooking the warehouse floor, stepping into the dim yellow glow of an overhead lamp.
“You made a mistake, Cassian,” Aleandro said, his deep voice cutting through the hollow building like a blade.
Cassian looked up, a cruel, mocking laugh bursting from his throat. “A mistake? I took your bride’s favorite niece! I made her place a bug right under your nose! I made you lock your own woman in a room like a dog! You’re weak, Aleandro! You let soft feelings ruin your instincts!”
“You touched a child,” Aleandro replied coldly, leaning over the handrail. “In my world, that isn't strategy. That is a death sentence.”
Aleandro raised his hand and gave a single, sharp whistle.
Above the rafters, six of Aleandro’s snipers opened fire simultaneously!
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Muzzle flashes illuminated the dark warehouse like lightning strikes. Four of Cassian’s men fell instantly to the concrete floor.
Cassian shrieked in horror, diving behind a pile of wooden pallets as bullets tore through the air around him. “Kill him! Kill Moretti!”
A fierce, chaotic firefight erupted across the warehouse.
Aleandro moved along the catwalk with terrifying speed, firing with surgical precision, dropping two more mercenaries as they tried to flank his position.
He slid down the iron ladder at the far end of the catwalk, landing lightly on his feet behind Cassian’s position.
Cassian scrambled across the slick floor, reaching for his fallen revolver, but before his fingers could touch the cold steel, a heavy boot slammed down onto his hand, crushing his knuckles against the concrete!
Cassian screamed in pain, looking up to find Aleandro standing directly over him, pointing the barrel of his silver pistol straight between Cassian’s eyes.
“Wait! Wait!” Cassian gasped, his face pale and slick with sweat. “Aleandro! It wasn't my idea! I was hired! Someone inside your own house paid me to take the girl!”
May you like
Aleandro’s thumb pulled back the heavy hammer of the gun.
“Who?” Aleandro growled.
