Chapter 7 - CHECKMATE
The assault on the warehouse was brutal and precise. The Chrysalis hit squad breached the front loading bay doors with breaching charges, the explosion rocking the foundation of the building. Smoke poured into the room, obscuring vision and filling the air with the acrid scent of cordite.
Marcus was a one-man army. He used the warehouse's narrow corridors to bottleneck the attackers, picking them off with terrifying accuracy. But they were heavily outnumbered.
Richard pulled Maya behind a massive industrial lathe, shielding her with his body. Bullets pinged off the heavy machinery, showering them in sparks.
"Richard!" Marcus yelled over the din, bleeding from a graze on his shoulder. "I'm out of heavy ammo! I've got two mags left for the sidearm!"
The gunfire suddenly ceased. A voice echoed through the smoky warehouse, amplified by a megaphone.
"Mr. Blackwood," a cultured, cold voice called out. "This doesn't have to end in a bloodbath. Give us the ledger and the girl, and you can walk away. We will chalk Vanessa up to a failed operation, and you can keep your empire. A fair trade for a billionaire."
Richard peered around the machine. The man speaking was stepping through the smoke—the man Maya had described. Sharp suit, aristocratic features. The Handler.
Richard tightened his grip on the crowbar. He looked down at Maya. She was terrified, but she looked at him with absolute trust. She was a child discarded by the world, yet she had more integrity than the men standing in this room.
"I don't make deals with rats," Richard yelled back.
"Pity," The Handler sighed, raising his hand to signal his men to finish the job.
Just as the mercenaries raised their weapons, the deafening roar of helicopter rotors shattered the tension. Floodlights pierced through the shattered skylights of the warehouse, blinding the attackers. The wail of sirens filled the night air as a dozen armored FBI tactical vehicles smashed through the perimeter fence.
"FBI! DROP YOUR WEAPONS!" boomed from a loudspeaker outside.
The Chrysalis mercenaries hesitated. That hesitation was their downfall. FBI SWAT teams breached from the roof and the rear doors simultaneously. Flashbangs went off in rapid succession. Within sixty seconds, the warehouse was secured. The mercenaries were on the ground in zip-ties, and The Handler was bleeding from a gunshot wound to the leg, screaming in agony.
Arthur, Richard's lawyer, walked into the warehouse flanked by federal agents. He looked at the chaos, then at Richard.
"I assume you have the ledger?" Arthur asked calmly.
May you like
Richard stood up, pulling Maya to her feet. He handed the black book to the lead FBI agent. "Everything you need is in there. Arrest the head chef at La Ciel. And station armed guards outside Vanessa Palmer's hospital room. When she wakes up, I want her to realize her nightmare has just begun."
The long night was finally over. The deadly network that had operated in the shadows was dragged violently into the light. And Richard Blackwood, a man who had built a fortune on control, realized that the greatest investment he had ever made was trusting a stranger.
