Chapter 6 - The Breach at Iron Cliff
"I thought you said this place didn't exist on any maps!" Emma cried out, crouching low behind the heavy mahogany table as the shadow of a large tactical helicopter hovered directly over the glass roof.
"It doesn't!" Adrian shouted back, pulling her toward the reinforced interior stairwell. "They must have deployed high-altitude infrared sweeps along the coastline the moment we lost their boats!"
A deafening shatter echoed through the mansion as the glass walls exploded inward under a shower of heavy tactical flashbang grenades. Blinded light and concussive shockwaves filled the living room. Men in black tactical gear descended from ropes suspended from the helicopter, landing heavily on the hardwood floor.
"Secure the target! Priority target is female!" a harsh voice shouted over the wind and roaring engines.
Adrian didn't hesitate. Raising his weapon, he fired three rapid shots into the main light fixture mounted above the entrance hall, plunging the entire level into pitch-black darkness save for the muzzle flashes and green night-vision lasers cutting through the dust.
"Run for the garage!" Adrian commanded, shoving Emma into the narrow service corridor that ran along the back spine of the estate.
Emma ran as fast as her bandaged feet could carry her, the cold concrete floor biting into her injuries. Behind her, the sounds of intense gunfire and shouting echoed through the corridors. She turned a corner and found herself inside a broad underground garage filled with four vehicles: a matte-black SUV, a vintage sports car, and two off-road motorcycles.
Before she could reach the SUV, a dark figure stepped out from behind a concrete pillar.
It was Victor. He held a sleek, silenced submachine gun pointed directly at her chest.
"Miss Hayes," Victor said smoothly, his voice completely unhurried despite the chaos happening upstairs. "You have caused us an incredible amount of trouble for someone who didn't even know her real last name three hours ago."
Emma backed away slowly until her spine hit the cold metallic surface of the SUV's hood. "Stay back."
"Hand over the locket, Emma," Victor said, extending a gloved hand. "It doesn't belong to you. It never did. It was built with Caelus capital, developed in Caelus laboratories. Your mother was nothing more than a thief who stole corporate property."
"My mother was a human being you murdered!" Emma spat, her fingers tightening around the cold gold piece around her neck.
"Your mother was collateral damage in a corporate restructuring," Victor corrected coldly. "And if you don't take that chain off right now, you will join her in the record books."
Victor stepped forward, raising the barrel of his weapon toward her forehead.
A sudden roaring engine echoed through the garage.
Out of the darkness, the massive steel bumper of the matte-black SUV came tearing backward—Adrian was in the driver's seat. He had circled around through an emergency maintenance shaft. The rear bumper slammed violently into Victor, throwing him off his feet and crashing him into a stack of storage crates.
"Get in!" Adrian screamed, throwing the passenger door open from the inside.
Emma didn't hesitate. She scrambled up into the high passenger seat and slammed the door shut just as three more tactical operators burst into the garage, opening fire on the vehicle.
The reinforced bulletproof glass of the SUV cracked under a rain of heavy armor-piercing rounds, but held firm. Adrian slammed his foot onto the accelerator. The heavy four-wheel-drive vehicle lurched forward, crashing through the heavy steel garage doors and smashing through the outer perimeter security fence.
The vehicle burst out onto the narrow, rain-slicked cliffside highway, tires spinning wildly on the mud and wet gravel.
"Are you hit?" Adrian yelled, keeping one eye on the rear-view mirror as the helicopter maneuvered overhead to pursue them down the winding mountain road.
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"I'm fine!" Emma gasped, clutching the dashboard as the SUV slid dangerously close to the edge of a two-hundred-foot drop straight into the boiling sea below. "Where are we going now? They have air support!"
"We can't outrun a helicopter on an open highway!" Adrian said, his face locked in absolute determination. "There's an abandoned railway tunnel three miles ahead. If we make it inside before their tactical team deploys a air-to-ground missile, we can force them onto the ground on foot!"
