Chapter 4 - The Meat Grinder
The three remaining snipers on the upper catwalk realized their primary target was safe and swung their rifles down toward the heavy woman in the jumpsuit.
“Move!” Mara barked at Adrian.
She didn't run like a thin tactical operative; she moved like an armored vehicle, using momentum, leverage, and raw physical power to drive herself forward.
Mara grabbed a heavy hundred-pound iron engine block resting on an auto-dolly, hauled it backward with one arm, and hurled it violently across the floor straight into the legs of an advancing Moretti mercenary who had stepped out from behind a forklift.
The iron block shattered both of the shooter’s kneecaps with a horrific sound. He went down screaming.
Mara grabbed his fallen MP5 submachine gun before he hit the ground, pivoted on her heavy heel, and fired two precise bursts straight up into the roof rafters.
Two bodies tumbled off the catwalks, crashing thirty feet down onto the metal trash bins below.
The fourth sniper attempted to swing his barrel toward Adrian, but Mara didn't waste time reloading. She threw the empty submachine gun like a brick. The steel body of the weapon struck the sniper full in the face, knocking him backward off the high platform.
Silence slammed back into the warehouse, broken only by the whimpering moans of Frank Rossi, who was still pinned to the wooden crate by the rebar spike.
Adrian stepped out from behind the steel pillar, wiping a smear of oil from his lapel. He looked at the four dead mercenaries, then at Rossi, and finally at Mara, who was catching her breath, her chest heaving beneath her jumpsuit.
“You drop hard for a cook,” Adrian noted quietly, stepping closer to her.
“I’m built for leverage,” Mara said, setting her hands on her hips, her voice thick with exertion. “Physics doesn't care about waist size, Mr. Vale. Mass times acceleration equals a bad day for idiots.”
Adrian looked down at Rossi, who was sobbing into the wood. “Why, Frank? I gave you a home. I paid for your daughter’s wedding.”
“Moretti... Moretti has thirty men heading for your estate right now,” Rossi wheezed out through spatters of blood. “They didn't just want you dead tonight, Vale. They wanted your whole family line wiped out. They’re burning your house to the ground!”
Adrian’s face turned into a mask of pure, absolute horror. “My daughter... Clara is at the estate.”
Mara grabbed Adrian by the shoulder, her heavy grip anchoring him in place.
“Where is your car?” Mara demanded.
“Outside. The armored SUV,” Adrian stammered, his usual icy composure completely shattered.
“Key,” she snapped, holding out her hand.
May you like
Adrian handed her the fob.
Mara turned toward the door, her heavy boots pounding against the concrete floor. “Get in the passenger seat, Vale. We’re going to go break some Morettis.”
