Chapter 9 - The Siege of the Cabin
The air inside the cabin instantly filled with thick, choking white smoke and the deafening shriek of the flashbang's concussion charge.
David fired twice through the haze toward the shattered front doorway, his shotgun blasting buckshot into the wooden framing and forcing the leading tactical operative to dive back onto the porch.
"Upload at ninety-six percent!" Aaron shouted over the chaos, his fingers flying across the laptop keyboard as the glowing screen illuminated his tense, focused face.
"Hurry!" Miller yelled, returning fire with his revolver through the side window as glass shattered across the floorboards. "They're flanking the rear patio!"
Heavy boots thundered across the wooden porch as more operatives poured into the living room, their suppressed rifles spitting high-velocity rounds that chewed through the log walls and splintered the furniture.
"Upload complete! Packet transmitted to federal server!" Aaron yelled triumphantly, ripping the flash drive from the USB port and tossing it into the stone fireplace, where the intense heat instantly melted the plastic housing into unrecognizable slag.
Before Aaron could stand up from the desk, a burst of automatic fire ripped through the study wall. Aaron gasped, stumbling backward against the bookshelf as a red stain bloomed rapidly across the shoulder of his canvas jacket.
"Aaron!" David screamed, dropping his shotgun and lunging across the room to grab his uncle before he hit the floor.
"I'm fine... just a flesh wound," Aaron hissed through gritted teeth, gripping his shoulder as blood seeped between his fingers. "Get to the cellar! The files are out—Cole's entire network is exposed across the federal database right now. They can't stop the investigation anymore!"
Miller laid down a heavy suppressing fire from the kitchen doorway, picking off the lead operative who tried to push into the hallway, but the sheer volume of incoming fire was overwhelming.
"David, get down there!" Miller shouted over the roar of gunfire. "I'll cover the hatch!"
David hauled Aaron to his feet, half-dragging him toward the kitchen pantry where Anna was holding the heavy wooden trapdoor open. Without hesitation, David lowered Aaron down into the damp, stone-lined cellar below, followed quickly by Anna and Maya, who were trembling but unharmed.
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David dropped down last, slamming the heavy wooden trapdoor shut and sliding the iron security bolt into place just as heavy boots stamped across the kitchen floor directly above their heads.
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