Chapter 5 - The Balcony Breach
Glass rained down upon the dance floor like sparkling hail. Smoke grenades bounced across the polished wood, instantly releasing thick, billowing clouds of toxic black smoke into the grand ballroom.
"GET DOWN!" Agent Vance screamed, tackling Elena to the floor behind the heavy frame of the white chest.
Victoria reacted instantly, diving behind a overturned marble head table as the heavy, rhythmic thrum of suppressed automatic gunfire filled the room. TAC-TAC-TAC-TAC-TAC!
"The Moretti Syndicate!" Alexander shrieked from the center of the room. "They're here to clean house!"
Through the thick black smoke, three figures clad in tactical gear, wearing night-vision goggles and black balaclavas, rappelled down from the broken balcony ceiling. They weren't here to rescue Alexander; they were here to eliminate every witness and incinerate the evidence.
One of the masked mercenaries fired a burst directly into the two federal agents guarding Alexander. The agents returned fire, forcing the attackers behind the large stone pillars near the foyer.
"Victoria! Give me the ledger!" Agent Vance yelled over the gunfire, pulling his secondary firearm from his ankle holster and sliding it across the slick floor toward her.
Victoria caught the compact 9mm pistol. As the daughter of a former military officer, she knew how to handle a firearm. She checked the chamber, flicked off the safety, and stayed low behind the table.
"Elena! Can you wipe those hard drives remotely if we get out of here?" Victoria shouted through the smoke.
"I don't need to wipe them!" Elena called back, crawling toward Victoria under the cover of the white chest. "I have the cloud access key burned onto a thumb drive around my neck! But if they take that chest, they'll destroy the hard evidence!"
"They won't take it," Victoria said fiercely.
A mercenary stepped out from behind a pillar, his rifle pointed directly at Alexander, who was cowering near the stage. "Alexander Hayes. You failed the contract," the mercenary said in a cold, accented voice.
BLAM!
Victoria leaned out from behind her cover and fired two precise shots into the mercenary’s ballistic vest. The impact knocked him backward, off balance. Agent Vance followed up with a headshot, dropping the attacker instantly.
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"Move! To the service kitchen!" Vance barked, grabbing Elena by the wrist.
Victoria grabbed the heavy ledger and the primary hard drive from the chest, stuffing them into her bridal garment bag, and sprinted through the smoke toward the double doors leading to the hotel kitchen. Behind them, the remaining mercenaries launched another flashbang, plunging the ballroom into blinding light and chaotic noise.
