Chapter 7 - THE BETRAYAL WITHIN
The next forty-eight hours were a blur of tactical planning and grim preparation. Jax’s warehouse became our war room. Dominic, despite his injury, proved why he was the most feared boss in Chicago. His mind was a steel trap of logistics, analyzing blueprints, patrol routes, and weaknesses in the Volkov empire.
Alexei Volkov, the patriarch of the Russian cartel, operated out of a high-rise penthouse in the heart of downtown Chicago, fronted by a legitimate tech conglomerate.
"His weakness isn't his security," Dominic pointed out, stabbing a pen into the sprawling map laid out on a metal crate. "It's his money. Alexei keeps physical, encrypted ledgers of his offshore accounts in a private server room on the forty-fifth floor. If we steal the drives, we freeze his assets. The cartel will turn on him instantly if the money stops flowing."
"It's a suicide mission," Jax chimed in, cleaning a high-powered sniper rifle. "You're walking into a fortress."
"I'm not walking in," Dominic said, looking at me. "We are."
"You can't go, Dominic. Your shoulder is compromised," I argued. "Let me do it. I can infiltrate the building as a cleaner. I've spent five years being invisible. I know how to disappear."
"Absolutely not," Dominic growled, pushing himself off the table, wincing slightly. He closed the distance between us, his towering frame forcing me to look up. "I am not sending you into the viper's nest alone. You are a Mercer, yes, but you are also mine to protect now."
The possessiveness in his voice sent a jolt of electricity straight to my core. I swallowed hard, holding my ground. "If you come, you're a liability with that arm. We do this my way. I go in, I get the drives, and you provide overwatch and extraction."
Before he could argue further, one of Jax's encrypted monitors beeped violently. Jax cursed, rushing to the screen.
"Someone just pinged this location's IP," Jax barked, his fingers flying across the keyboard. "It's a brute-force hack. They’re tracking us."
"How?" Dominic demanded, drawing his weapon.
"It wasn't a remote hack," Jax said, his face turning pale. He turned to look at the three of us. "Someone planted a physical tracker. Inside the warehouse."
My blood ran cold. The only people here were me, Dominic, Audrey, and Jax.
Suddenly, a heavy, metallic thud echoed from the loading dock doors. Then another. They were breaching the warehouse.
"Jax, the fallback tunnel!" I yelled, scooping a sleeping Audrey into my arms.
"Go! I'll hold them off!" Jax shouted, racking a shotgun.
"No!" Dominic roared, grabbing Jax by the collar. "We fight together."
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But it was too late. The reinforced steel doors blew inward with a deafening explosion, throwing all of us to the ground. Dust and smoke filled the air, choking us. Through the haze, heavily armed Volkov mercenaries poured into the warehouse, their laser sights cutting through the smoke like crimson blades.
We had been betrayed, but not by Jax. I looked at the twisted metal of the door. The explosive charge had been placed on the inside. Someone had infiltrated Jax’s sanctuary before we even arrived.
