Chapter 6 - The Siege on Oak StreetThe knock on the recovery room door was sharp, urgent, and double-tapped—the code Marcus used when seconds mattered.
Before I could answer, the door swung open. Marcus stood in the frame, his face pale under the fluorescent lighting, his suit jacket open to reveal the tactical harness strapped across his chest.
“Boss,” Marcus said breathlessly. “We’ve got a problem. A major one.”
I stepped away from Elena’s bed, keeping my voice low. “Talk.”
“Caldwell didn't just lose a prisoner last night. He tracked the secondary burner phone used to call the police to a block near our safehouse. Ten minutes ago, three black escalades blocked off both ends of Oak Street. They’re not hiding, Boss. They’re deploying heavy ordnance.”
Elena’s face drained of what little color she had left. She pushed herself up onto her elbows, wincing in agony. “He found me. Oh God, he found me.”
“He didn't find you by magic,” I said coldly, walking over to the wall safe behind a sliding wood panel. I punched in the digital code and pulled out a heavy SIG Sauer P226, checking the magazine before slamming it home with a sharp clack. “Someone inside our network leaked our location. Or Caldwell had a tracker on the SUV.”
“We swept the vehicle twice, Boss,” Marcus insisted. “There was no tracker.”
“Then it’s an internal leak,” I replied, walking back toward the bed and handing a smaller compact firearm to Marcus, who tucked it instantly into his waistband. I turned to Elena. “Can you walk?”
“I have to,” she gritted through her teeth, swinging her legs over the side of the bed.
The sound of shattering glass echoed from the ground floor below, followed immediately by the dull, concussive boom of a breaching charge blowing through the heavy steel security doors of the safehouse.
The war had come to our doorstep.
“Marcus, take the service elevator down to the subterranean garage. Get the armored van. Move her to the secondary safehouse on Lake Michigan,” I ordered, sliding another loaded clip into my coat pocket.
“And you, Boss?” Marcus asked, his eyes wide.
May you like
I pulled the slide back on my pistol, a cold, predatory smile touching my lips.
“I’m going downstairs to welcome Mr. Caldwell to my house.”
