Chapter 6 - The Siege of the Penthouse
“Everyone get down!” Enzo roared, shoving the leather journal and the flash drive into his jacket pocket.
The heavy reinforced glass doors of the private suite shuddered under the sudden, massive impact of a breaching charge.
BOOM.
The lock mechanism exploded into a shower of splinters and hot metal. Smoke poured into the hallway as three armed mercenaries in tactical black gear stormed through the threshold, automatic rifles raised.
Enzo fired twice from behind the heavy mahogany desk.
Bang! Bang!
The lead mercenary dropped instantly, his rifle clattering across the Persian rug. The other two returned fire, chewing up the wood of the desk and shattering a decorative vase.
“Vance, get my grandfather into the panic room!” Enzo shouted over the deafening gunfire.
Vance rushed to Alfonso’s wheelchair, wheeling the old man frantically toward the hidden bookcase panel behind the desk.
Lucia didn't run. Adrenaline surged through her veins, overriding her fear. She grabbed a heavy brass candelabra from the side table just as a third mercenary vaulted over the shattered door frame, sweeping his rifle toward Vance and Alfonso.
With a fierce cry she didn't know she had in her, Lucia swung the heavy brass candelabra with all her might, smashing it squarely across the mercenary’s helmet.
The man staggered sideways, losing his balance.
Enzo didn't hesitate; he pivoted and fired a precise round into the intruder’s shoulder, dropping him to the floor.
“Get inside the panic room, Lucia!” Enzo yelled, firing cover shots down the dark corridor where more footsteps were rapidly approaching.
“I’m not leaving you!” Lucia shouted back, dragging Alfonso’s medical cart across the doorway to create an improvised barricade.
“Lucia, do as he says!” Alfonso gasped, clutching his chest as Vance pushed his wheelchair through the sliding wall panel. “Protect the ledger!”
Enzo grabbed Lucia by the arm, yanking her behind the heavy stone fireplace pillar just as a barrage of automatic rifle fire shredded the glass windows and peppered the walls.
“We’re cut off!” Enzo called out, checking his magazine. “The private elevator is disabled. They’ve locked down the building grid.”
“Then how do we get out?” Lucia asked, breathing heavily.
May you like
Enzo looked up toward the vaulted ceiling. A maintenance hatch led directly to the roof utility loft, connecting to the adjacent skyscraper’s emergency stairwell.
“Up,” Enzo said.
