Chapter 10 - The Last Stand
The black Lincoln Navigator tore out of the Long Island estate gates, its supercharged V8 engine screaming into the rainy night like a wounded animal.
Dominic drove with one hand on the steering wheel and the other clearing the slide of a fully loaded Glock 19, slamming a fresh magazine into the well with a sharp metallic snap. On the passenger seat lay a tactical vest, three spare mags, and a heavy encrypted radio tuned to Vance’s emergency frequency.
"Vance, do you copy?" Dominic barked into the mic as he drifted the heavy SUV around a slick highway bend at ninety miles per hour.
Static hissed for a second before Vance’s voice crackled through, raspy and urgent. "Boss! I heard about the feed! We’ve got three tactical units mobilized from the Brooklyn docks moving into position around the Federal Plaza right now. But Callahan has the entire perimeter locked down with federal marshals!"
"Forget the marshals," Dominic commanded, his voice dropping into that absolute, terrifying register that brooks no argument. "Do not engage the plaza perimeter yet. Wait for my signal. If anyone fires a single shot before I get my daughters out of that van, the deal is dead."
"Boss, you're walking into a slaughterhouse alone!" Vance protested. "Callahan is holding all the cards!"
"No," Dominic said, his dark eyes fixed on the distant glowing towers of Manhattan cutting through the storm clouds ahead. "He’s holding hostages. And nobody touches my family in my city."
He slammed his foot down harder on the accelerator, the Navigator surging forward through the sheets of rain like a freight train.
As the towering neoclassical columns of the Federal Courthouse came into view ahead, bathed in harsh emergency lighting and surrounded by a ring of police barricades and news vans, Dominic cut his headlights completely.
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He didn't slow down. He aimed the massive SUV straight toward the pedestrian plaza, hurtling out of the darkness toward Callahan's black van parked right at the center of the steps.
As the Navigator jumped the curb and smashed through the decorative stone bollards, Dominic kicked open his door, raised his weapon, and stepped out into the pouring rain.
