Chapter 8 - THE AMBUSH
Bullets tore through the mansion.
Marcus pushed me behind a stone pillar.
“Down!”
Glass exploded above us.
Thomas screamed.
His sons scattered.
I heard men entering from the east corridor.
Not police.
Not Mercers.
Professionals.
My father's soldiers.
They moved with military precision.
Marcus fired back.
“There's at least fifteen.”
I checked the recording.
My father had known where we were.
Someone had betrayed us.
I looked at Thomas.
“Who knew we were coming?”
He stared at me.
“No one.”
One of his sons suddenly ran.
A gunshot dropped him.
The house became chaos.
I moved toward the vault.
Marcus covered me.
We found a second passage behind the shelves.
It led underground.
We crawled through darkness while bullets echoed overhead.
Eventually we reached an old train tunnel.
At the end was an abandoned warehouse.
I called Clara.
No answer.
I called the hospital.
They said her room was empty.
My heart stopped.
“Where is my wife?”
The nurse's voice trembled.
“Her father arrived with a court order.”
“Who signed it?”
She read the name.
Judge Elias Kane.
One of the men in the photographs.
My father's ally.
I turned to Marcus.
“Find her.”
He was already moving.
We returned to the hospital.
Clara was gone.
Her room contained only a message.
Three words.
COME ALONE, ANDREW.
Underneath was a location.
The old Mercer factory.
I stared at it.
Marcus said:
“It's a trap.”
“I know.”
“Then don't go.”
I looked toward the empty hospital bed.
“I have to.”
Marcus shook his head.
“You're not going alone.”
I picked up my coat.
“Then bring everyone.”
For the first time, I stopped hiding.
We assembled every operative Meridian had.
Black SUVs filled the street.
Police helicopters flew overhead.
Federal agents joined us.
Tonight, I wasn't going to negotiate.
May you like
Tonight, I was ending the war.
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