Chapter 5 - Ambush in the Cellar
“Boss! We’ve got incoming!”
One of the armed guards stationed by the entrance shouted the warning, immediately raising his submachine gun toward the stairwell.
Footsteps—heavy, rushed, and entirely uninvited—thundered down the stone steps. Before Gabriel could stand, three armed men in black tactical gear burst into the cellar, weapons leveled directly at the cot.
“Clear the room! Orders from the council!” shouted the lead intruder, his face obscured by a tactical balaclava.
Gabriel moved with terrifying speed. In a blur of motion, he drew a silenced pistol from his waistband, pivoted, and fired twice. The lead gunman dropped instantly before he could pull his trigger.
The remaining two intruders scrambled for cover behind the vintage car, returning heavy suppressive fire that chipped shards of ancient stone from the cellar walls. Glass shattered as a stray round pierced the car’s windshield.
“Get down!” Gabriel roared, lunging forward to shield Chalice and the baby with his own body as bullets ricocheted off the iron frame of the cot.
Chalice squeezed her eyes shut, pressing Douglas tightly against her chest, whispering frantic prayers into the pink blanket.
Gabriel’s bodyguards—seasoned professionals who had survived a dozen cartel wars—returned fire with surgical precision. Two crisp cracks echoed through the confined space, followed by the heavy thud of bodies hitting the concrete floor.
Silence descended upon the cellar just as quickly as the violence had erupted, leaving behind the acrid smell of cordite and burning gunpowder.
Gabriel slowly rose from over the cot, his breathing controlled, checking Chalice and the baby with rapid, frantic hands. “Are you hit?”
“No—no, we’re okay,” Chalice stammered, trembling uncontrollably.
Gabriel turned his lethal gaze toward the fallen intruders. He walked over, kicked away a weapon from the nearest corpse, and ripped the balaclava off the man’s face.
Gabriel’s jaw clenched so hard a muscle ticked in his cheek.
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“Do you know him?” Chalice asked, peering fearfully around the edge of the cot.
“I know him,” Gabriel said, his voice dropping into a dangerous, icy register. “He’s part of Viktor Vance’s personal internal security detail. Which means Viktor and Marcus didn't just know about the hit on my brother... they were running it.”
