Part 5: The Siege Begins
The second operative stopped at the base of the grand staircase, his night-vision goggles flipped up onto his forehead as he scanned the looming shadows of the foyer. The ambient moonlight cutting through the high transom windows cast faint, silver streaks across the marble floor.
“Viper Three, did you check the service wing?” the operative whispered into his comms mic, speaking to the third member of the team.
Silence crackled through the earpiece. Only low static answered him.
The operative frowned, lifting his rifle and thumbing the selector switch to burst fire. “Viper Three, report.”
Still nothing.
A sudden, chilling realization hit the man. He spun around, raising his weapon toward the darkened corridor leading back to the kitchen—
Click.
“Drop the weapon,” a voice rasped from the darkness directly behind him.
The operative started to pivot, his finger tightening on the trigger, but Michael was already moving. With ruthless efficiency, Michael kicked the back of the man’s knee, sending him crashing hard onto the marble floor. Before the man could recover, Michael’s boot came down squarely across his wrist, snapping the rifle away with a clatter.
Michael pressed the barrel of his Sig Sauer firmly against the back of the operative’s neck.
“Don’t move. Don't breathe,” Michael commanded.
The man froze, his hands splayed flat against the cold marble. Beneath the tactical vest, his chest heaved rapidly. “Who the hell are you?”
“You broke into the wrong house,” Michael said softly, leaning down. He reached out and ripped the tactical radio off the man’s chest, then tore the comms earpiece from his ear and crushed it beneath his heel. “Tell me something, soldier. Who gave the direct order to wipe out everyone inside?”
The operative let out a harsh, bitter laugh. “You think... you think killing us changes anything? Victor Vance owns this city. Cops, judges, politicians—they’re all on his payroll. If we don't report back in ten minutes, a second team will kick down this door. And they won’t use glass-cutters. They’ll use C4.”
Michael didn’t flinch. He pressed the pistol barrel slightly harder into the man’s spine. “Let them come. But you won’t be here to watch.”
With a swift, precise strike to the back of the man’s neck using the heavy polymer grip of his pistol, Michael put him lights-out.
He stood up, his breathing steady, his mind racing. Ten minutes. That was all the time he had before Vance’s backup arrived.
He keyed his own secure comms channel. “Chris.”
“Boss! I saw the scuffle on camera. Are you hit?”
“I’m untouched,” Michael said briskly. “Listen to me carefully. Wake up Marcus and Leo. Arm yourselves with the heavy artillery from the armory. Vance is sending a second extraction team with explosives. They’ll be here in under ten minutes.”
“Got it, boss. We’re locked and loaded.”
“And Chris?”
“Yes, boss?”
“Move Sarah and the baby into the subterranean safe room behind the wine cellar. Do it now. Nobody stays in the upper wings.”
“Right away.”
Michael turned and sprinted up the grand staircase toward the second-floor master suite. The house was dead silent, but the air felt heavy, charged with the impending violence of a full-scale siege.
When he reached the guest suite, he keyed the biometric lock. The heavy steel door swung open smoothly.
Sarah was standing by the bed, holding Noah wrapped snugly in a warm blanket. Her face was stark white, her eyes wide with terror as she heard the distant commands echoing through the house.
“Mr. Cavada... what’s happening?” she asked, her voice trembling uncontrollably.
“Vance sent a hit squad,” Michael said, his tone urgent but completely calm. “We’re moving to a secure bunker downstairs. Stay close to Chris, and do not make a sound.”
Sarah nodded, clutching Noah tightly to her chest.
At that exact moment, a thunderous explosion shook the entire western wing of the mansion.
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The sound of shattering glass, splintering wood, and twisting metal echoed through the halls. The security lights flickered, plunged into a deep, emergency red hue as the backup generators kicked in.
The siege had begun.
