Chapter 7 - THE ENEMY WITHIN
The back door of the gas station was rusted shut.
Sophia threw her shoulder against it. Once. Twice. It didn't budge.
Behind her, the front door of the shop was kicked open. Flashlights swept through the dark aisles of chips and sodas.
"Find her," a gruff voice commanded. "Make it quick. Boss wants this cleaned up before Lorenzo neutralizes our guys at the house."
Sophia crouched behind the counter, pressing Emma tightly to her chest. The little girl was too weak to cry, which was the only thing keeping them hidden.
Heavy boots crunched on the linoleum floor. They were getting closer.
Sophia looked around desperately. Her eyes landed on a heavy fire extinguisher mounted under the register.
She gently set Emma down on a pile of discarded cardboard boxes. "Stay quiet, sweetie. Don't make a sound."
Emma nodded weakly.
Sophia grabbed the fire extinguisher. She unpinned it.
A flashlight beam hit the counter. A man stepped around the corner, raising his gun.
Sophia didn't hesitate. She squeezed the trigger on the extinguisher, blasting a massive cloud of thick, white chemical foam directly into the man's face.
He screamed, dropping his gun and clawing at his burning eyes.
Sophia swung the heavy metal canister like a baseball bat, catching him flush in the temple. He crumpled to the floor.
"She's over here!" another man shouted.
Gunfire erupted. Bullets shredded the shelves above Sophia, raining down plastic and food.
Sophia grabbed Emma and the fallen man's gun. She had never fired a weapon in her life, but she was a mother, and she was cornered.
She pointed the gun around the counter and pulled the trigger repeatedly.
The heavy recoil bruised her wrist, and the deafening blasts made Emma scream, but the suppressing fire forced the attackers to duck behind the aisles.
It gave her three seconds.
Sophia kicked the rusted back door with all the adrenaline in her body. The hinges screamed, and the door flew open.
She grabbed Emma and bolted into the dark, rain-soaked woods behind the gas station.
Back at the estate, the war was in full swing.
Lorenzo's loyalists were clearing room by room. Vincent's men, realizing they were trapped, fought back with desperate ferocity.
The pristine marble floors were slick with blood. The walls were riddled with bullet holes.
Lorenzo kicked open the door to the library. Empty.
He moved to the study. Empty.
"Marco, where are they?" Lorenzo yelled over the gunfire.
"Cameras show Vincent and Vivian moving toward the underground garage!" Marco shouted through the comms. "They're trying to use the armored transport to bust through the gates!"
"Not today," Lorenzo snarled.
He sprinted down the grand staircase, taking the hidden servant's corridor that led directly to the garage.
He burst through the doors just as the heavy engine of the armored Mercedes roared to life.
Vincent was behind the wheel. Vivian was in the passenger seat.
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Lorenzo raised his weapon and fired at the windshield. The bullets sparked and deflected off the ballistic glass.
Vincent sneered, slammed the car into drive, and floored it. The massive vehicle surged forward, aiming directly for Lorenzo.
