Chapter 5 - The Siege of Vale Manor
The Vale estate in Oak Park was a sweeping stone mansion built like a European castle, surrounded by ten-foot iron fences and mature oak trees.
When the heavy armored SUV tore through the front wrought-iron gates at sixty miles an hour, three black sedans were already parked on the circular driveway, their doors thrown open.
Smoke was rising from the first-floor conservatory windows. Fire alarms were blaring across the manicured lawns.
Mara didn't press the brakes. She rammed the armored bumper of the SUV directly into the side of the lead Moretti sedan, folding the vehicle in half like an aluminum can and crushing two gunmen who were standing behind it.
The SUV ground to a halt against the fountain.
Mara threw her door open, stepping out with a heavy twelve-gauge shotgun she had pulled from Adrian’s trunk rack.
“Stay behind me!” Mara barked at Adrian, who drew his custom Sig Sauer P226.
Four Moretti hitmen stepped out of the burning front entrance, raising automatic rifles.
Mara didn't duck. She racked the heavy pump of the shotgun and stepped forward into the open.
BOOM!
The heavy buckshot blasted the lead shooter off his feet, driving him back through the shattered glass front doors.
BOOM!
The second shooter was hit square in the chest, his Kevlar vest failing under the massive hydraulic shock of the close-range blast.
The remaining two shooters retreated frantically into the foyer, screaming for backup.
Mara pushed through the front entrance like a battering ram. The foyer was filled with thick gray smoke and the smell of gasoline. Two men rushed down the grand mahogany staircase toward her.
Mara stepped inside their guard, caught the first man’s rifle barrel with her left hand, yanked it downward with terrifying strength, and drove her right elbow directly into his throat. His windpipe collapsed instantly.
She caught the second man by his tactical belt, lifted his entire two-hundred-pound body off his feet using her core strength, and hurled him over the banister. He crashed onto the marble coffee table below with a horrific crunch.
Adrian followed right behind her, clearing the side rooms with swift, professional pistol shots.
“Clara!” Adrian screamed, his voice raw with terror, running toward the stairs. “Clara!”
“Upper floor!” Mara called out, scanning the ceiling. “They’re clearing from the top down!”
They pounded up the stairs, leaving a trail of broken wood and defeated hitmen behind them.
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At the end of the second-floor hallway, a heavy oak door was being beaten on by two bulky men with a tactical sledgehammer. Inside the room, a young girl was screaming in sheer panic.
Mara didn't stop to take cover. She picked up a heavy antique marble pedestal standing in the hallway, hoisted it over her shoulder like a sack of flour, and charged down the corridor like a line-backer.
