Chapter 3 - Darkness in the ClinicThe sudden pop of a suppressed pistol echoed through the thin walls of the dental office, followed immediately by the heavy thud of a body hitting the linoleum floor in the reception area.
“Aris!” I barked, leaping off the stool.
Before I could reach the door, the metal handle turned, and Aris stumbled backward into the examination room, clutching a bleeding gash across his shoulder, his face gray with shock.
“Front door... they bypassed the electronic deadbolts,” Aris gasped, collapsing against the medical supply cart. “At least four of them. Professional grade. Tactical gear.”
I drew my Sig Sauer in one fluid motion, flicking off the safety with my thumb.
“Get Elena into the crawl space behind the X-ray unit,” I ordered, grabbing Aris by his lab coat and steadying him. “Lock it from the inside and don't open it for anyone except me.”
“Dominic, wait—” Elena began, trying to slide off the examination table.
“Stay down,” I snapped, not looking back. “If they find you, this whole war ends before it starts.”
I slipped out into the darkened hallway, pressing my back against the cool plaster wall. The clinic was bathed in eerie, crimson emergency lighting filtering down from the ceiling vents. Down the corridor, the silhouette of a tactical operator moved toward the examination rooms, a short-barreled carbine raised and sweeping methodically from side to side.
He didn't check his corners. Big mistake.
I closed the distance in three silent strides, grabbed the barrel of his carbine, yanked him violently forward, and slammed the heavy butt of my pistol square into the side of his helmet.
He went down like a sack of wet cement.
I stripped his secondary sidearm and extra magazines in under five seconds, tucking the Glock into my waistband.
“Clear the back exit!” a harsh voice barked over a tactical radio clipped to the unconscious man’s vest. “Caldwell wants the girl alive, but he said the Ashford boy is fair game. Terminate on sight.”
So Vincent was already making house calls.
I moved swiftly down the hallway toward the reception desk, stepping over Aris’s unconscious receptionist—thankfully just stunned, not killed—and slipped out through the side fire exit into the alleyway behind the clinic.
The rain had turned into a steady, freezing drizzle.
Three black SUV idling with their lights off blocked both ends of the narrow alley. Two operatives were sweeping the dumpsters near my parked vehicle.
I didn't wait for them to spot me. I raised the Sig and put two rounds through the chest of the nearest operative before he could shoulder his weapon.
The second man dove behind a metal dumpster, screaming into his radio, “Contact! Alleyway exit! Sector four!”
Bullets chewed through the brickwork inches from my head, showering me in red dust and sharp mortar fragments. I returned fire blindly, keeping his head down while I sprinted toward my SUV, diving behind the reinforced rear door just as a fusillade of automatic gunfire shredded my back windows into a million glittering crystals.
My phone buzzed violently in my pocket.
I yanked it out with my left hand while keeping the Sig trained on the alley mouth.
The caller ID showed an unknown, encrypted VoIP number.
I swiped to answer.
“You’re a difficult man to reach, Ashford,” Vincent Caldwell’s smooth, cultured voice purred through the speaker, sounding as relaxed as if he were calling to discuss a golf handicap. “I hear you’ve taken an interest in my lost property.”
“She’s not your property, Vincent,” I growled, ducking as another round ricocheted off the SUV’s steel quarter-panel.
“Technically, she’s a thief who broke into my personal safe and stole sensitive family heirlooms,” Vincent replied smoothly, the synthetic amusement dripping from every syllable. “More importantly, Dominic, she’s carrying something that doesn't belong to her. If you’re smart, you’ll hand her over at the old shipyard on Pier 44 by midnight. If you don't... well, let’s just say Aris Thorne’s clinic is going to look like a slaughterhouse by the time the morning shift arrives.”
“You touch Aris, and I swear to God I’ll flay you alive, Vincent.”
“Midnight, Dominic. Bring the girl. Bring the ledger. Or watch your entire organization burn to ash while you bleed out in the rain.”
Click.
The line went dead.
I lowered the phone, my jaw clenched so hard I thought my teeth would fracture.
Vincent thought he held all the cards. He thought he could back me into a corner, force a trade, and eliminate both Elena and me in one clean stroke.
He didn't realize the fundamental flaw in his plan.
He thought I was fighting to protect a stranger. He had no idea what Elena was holding, and he certainly didn't know that my father’s ghost was standing right beside me in the alley, whispering for blood.
May you like
I threw the SUV into reverse, slammed my foot down on the gas, and tore backward out of the alley, smashing through a wooden security gate and heading straight back into the heart of Boston.
It was time to assemble the crew. The war Vincent wanted was about to be delivered directly to his front door.
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