Chapter 6 - THE TRAITOR IN THE MANSION
The mansion was transformed into a fortress of war. Steel shutters slammed down over the windows. The armory was emptied, men in tactical gear taking positions along the grand staircases and the balustrades. I strapped on my Kevlar vest, chambered a round in my customized Sig Sauer, and prepared for a bloodbath.
But something was wrong.
Vane was a brute, but he wasn't a tactical genius. Ambushing Marco's team required insider knowledge. Knowing about the twins' illness required insider knowledge. Someone inside this house was bleeding information to the enemy.
I walked into the surveillance hub. Prescott was standing over the monitors, barking orders into a radio. I watched him closely. Prescott had been with me for five years. He knew the codes. He knew the routes.
"Prescott," I called out over the din of the room. "The secondary perimeter codes. Did you cycle them?"
"Yes, Boss. Five minutes ago."
"Good." I walked closer to him. "Where is Dr. Yates?"
"He's in the medical wing, packing up his equipment. Said he needed to secure the blood samples before we move to the bunker."
I frowned. The blood samples were already secured. I turned on my heel and sprinted toward the medical wing.
I burst through the double doors just in time to see Dr. Yates holding a syringe filled with a cloudy, yellow liquid over Jonah's IV line. Jonah was asleep, completely unaware.
"Drop it!" I roared, drawing my weapon and aiming it directly at Yates' head.
Yates jumped, dropping the syringe. It shattered on the floor, the yellow liquid sizzling slightly against the sterile tiles. It was acid. He was trying to kill my son.
"Mr. Mercer! Please!" Yates dropped to his knees, his hands in the air, tears streaming down his face. "He made me! Vane made me do it!"
I crossed the room, grabbed him by the throat, and slammed him against the glass wall. "You sold out my children? You brought this plague into my house?"
"They threatened my family!" Yates choked out, his face turning purple. "Vane knew about the Vanguard trial! He owns the executives who escaped! He sent me here to make sure the twins died so you would be broken. When Clara showed up... when she cured them... Vane said he would slaughter my daughters if I didn't finish the job!"
My mind raced. Vanguard. Vane. It was all connected. Vane wasn't just a rival boss; he was the shadow investor behind the lab that tortured my wife and Clara.
I dropped Yates to the floor. He gasped for air, coughing violently.
"You have five seconds to tell me Vane's exact entry point," I demanded, pressing the barrel of the gun to his temple.
"The... the water tunnels!" Yates cried. "The old prohibition smuggling tunnels beneath the wine cellar. I gave him the override codes for the grate."
I pulled the trigger.
The silenced shot echoed with a deadly thwip. Yates slumped against the wall, dead. I felt no remorse. He tried to murder my children.
May you like
I hit the comms on my shoulder. "Prescott! They are coming through the wine cellar tunnels. Divert the heavy gunners to the basement. Now!"
There was a burst of static, then Prescott's voice, laced with panic. "Lawson! They're already inside. The cellar is breached. We have heavy casualties. You need to get the kids and Clara out. Now!"
