Chapter 9 - The Threat
Three months later, as early spring began to thaw the city, a dark shadow fell over the Davis estate.
A bitter turf war had erupted between the Davis syndicate and a rival faction from Brooklyn led by a ruthless crime boss named Dominic Rossi. For three weeks, Victor had been working around the clock, leaving the estate before dawn and returning long after midnight, his bodyguards on high alert.
Despite the danger, Hannah kept Matthew's world safe, happy, and completely isolated from the darkness outside.
On a rainy Friday afternoon, Hannah was driving Matthew home from school in the estate's private SUV. Thomas was at the wheel, while two security vehicles followed closely behind them.
As they turned off the main highway onto the quiet, wooded road leading toward the estate gates, a heavy black delivery truck suddenly pulled out from a side road, slamming its brakes and blocking the narrow street completely.
"Thomas! Look out!" Hannah screamed, grabbing Matthew and pulling him down onto the floorboard beneath her body.
SCREECH! BANG!
The rear security car was suddenly rammed from behind by a second black vehicle, trapping their SUV in the middle of the narrow road.
Four masked men armed with automatic rifles jumped out of the delivery truck, firing shots into the air and rushing toward the passenger doors.
Thomas reached for his sidearm, but before he could draw, a masked man smashed the driver's side window with a crowbar, pulling the door open and knocking Thomas unconscious with a heavy blow.
Matthew was sobbing under Hannah's body, trembling violently. "Hannah! Hannah! I'm scared!"
"Shh! Stay down, Matthew! Keep your eyes closed! I've got you!" Hannah whispered fiercely, wrapping her arms completely around the boy, shielding his entire body with hers.
The SUV's rear door was ripped open. A large man wearing a tactical mask leaned inside, pointing a heavy black pistol straight at Hannah's head.
"Hand over the kid!" the gunman growled, his voice muffled by the mask. "Rossi wants the Davis boy! Give him to me now and you walk away!"
Hannah looked at the gun barrel inches from her face. She felt a cold, terrifying wave of panic wash over her, but as she felt Matthew's tiny, frantic heartbeat pressed against her chest, a fierce, unstoppable courage took over.
"Touch him and I'll kill you," Hannah snarled, her voice booming with a terrifying rage that shocked even the gunman.
She didn't hesitate. Hannah reached out, grabbed the heavy glass thermos of hot tea sitting in the cup holder beside her, and slammed it with all her strength directly into the gunman's face.
CRACK!
The man screamed as the heavy steel thermos shattered his nose, hot liquid splashing over his mask. He stumbled back out of the SUV, clutching his face in agony.
Taking immediate advantage of the distraction, Hannah grabbed the emergency horn on the dashboard, slamming her palm down and holding it. The loud, deafening alarm blared across the quiet woods, echoing for miles.
Down the road, the heavy iron gates of the Davis estate burst open.
Four security vehicles roared out of the driveway at top speed, tires screaming as Victor's elite strike team descended upon the ambush site like an unstoppable wave of judgment.
Seeing the overwhelming force approaching, the remaining gunmen panicked, scrambling back into their vehicles and speeding away into the trees, leaving their bleeding comrade behind on the asphalt.
Within seconds, the door of the SUV was pulled open again—this time by Victor Davis himself.
His face was terrifying to behold, pale with absolute fury, a heavy gun held in his right hand.
"Hannah! Matthew!" Victor shouted, his voice cracking with sheer desperation.
He looked inside.
Hannah was still lying over Matthew on the floorboard, her dress torn, her arms wrapped tightly around the boy, shielding him from every danger in the world.
Matthew pulled his head out, looking up at his father. "Dad! Hannah fought them! She saved me!"
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Victor dropped his gun onto the leather seat, fell to his knees on the wet asphalt outside the door, and pulled both of them into his arms, holding them so tightly that none of them could breathe.
For the first time in twenty years, Victor Davis buried his face in Hannah's hair and wept.
