Chapter 5 - Glass and Fire
“Down!” Vincent roared.
He grabbed Mave by the waist and dragged her to the floor just as the double glass panels exploded inward in a rain of razor-sharp shards.
The sound of silenced automatic fire tore through the apartment, shredding the leather furniture and shattering the marble kitchen island overhead. Splinters and dust filled the air.
Vincent rolled onto his back, pulling Mave beneath him to cover her body with his own. He raised his handgun, tracking the shooter through the floating dust, and fired three controlled shots through the broken frame.
The shooter dropped back onto the balcony with a heavy thud, his rifle clattering against the wet concrete outside.
“Are you hit?” Vincent growled into Mave’s ear, his hand quickly sweeping over her arms, back, and shoulders to check for blood.
“I’m okay! I’m okay!” Mave gasped, her lungs burning from the dust.
“They’re inside the house,” Vincent said, peering over the edge of the kitchen island. “They used a localized EMP on the gate. The guards outside are down.”
More footsteps echoed from the staircase leading up from the private elevator.
“Vincent,” a smooth, familiar voice called out from the darkness of the hallway. “Give us the girl and the drive, and we’ll let you keep your life.”
Mave’s stomach dropped.
It wasn't Julian’s gravelly voice.
It was Leo.
Vincent’s posture remained stone-still, but his dark eyes burned with an icy, lethal fury.
“Leo,” Vincent called back, his voice echoes through the wrecked living room. “I gave you half the docks in Queens. I paid off your gambling debts in Atlantic City.”
“And you kept us on a leash while you played legitimate businessman!” Leo spat back from behind the concrete pillar near the hall. “Julian offered thirty percent of the Valetti distribution network. All we need is Elena Vance’s decryption key. Give her up, Vincent. She’s just a secretary.”
Vincent looked down at Mave. His hand reached out, gently cupping the back of her head, his eyes locking onto hers in the dark.
“She’s not my secretary,” Vincent said quietly.
Then he reached into his pocket, pulled out a small black remote control, and hit the red toggle button.
A blinding magnesium flare ignited along the ceiling perimeter, flooding the room with two thousand candlepower of harsh white light!
Leo and his two men in the hallway cried out in pain, dropping their hands to shield their night-adapted eyes.
Vincent stood up instantly, stepping out from behind the counter like an executioner.
BANG. BANG. BANG.
Three rapid shots echoed through the penthouse.
The two men standing behind Leo collapsed to the floor. Leo stumbled backward, clutching his shoulder where Vincent’s bullet had shattered his collarbone, dropping his weapon as he scrammed down the service stairs.
Vincent didn't pursue him.
He turned back to Mave, grabbing her by the hand and hoisting her to her feet.
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“We’re leaving,” Vincent said. “The emergency vehicle in the sub-basement isn't tied to the main grid.”
He grabbed the encrypted laptop, shoved it into a waterproof tactical bag, and led Mave through a hidden panel in his study that opened into a narrow, concrete service stairwell leading deep below the building.
