Chapter 9 - The Siege at Dawn
The second SUV slammed on its brakes, sliding sideways across the driveway to block the exit.
Doors flew open. Four men in unmarked tactical gear, wearing heavy black vests and carrying suppressed carbines, spilled out onto the lawn, taking cover behind the wrecked vehicle.
“Master Chief Reed! Stand down and secure the boy!” a voice shouted through a megaphone from behind the SUV. “Hand over the secure communications terminal and no one gets hurt!”
Inside the foyer, I locked the heavy oak front door, throwing the deadbolt and sliding the steel security bar into place. The windows were reinforced with ballistic glass, but the sound of heavy boots stamping onto our front porch made the floorboards vibrate beneath my feet.
“Mom!” I yelled, running toward the kitchen where she was already unlocking a concealed floor safe beneath the pantry mat.
“Stay down, Mason!” Mom commanded, not looking up as she tossed me a heavy Kevlar vest. Put that on. Now.”
“Who are they?” I asked, catching the vest and sliding my arms through the straps with shaking hands.
“Contractors working for the same syndicate Carter was feeding information to,” Mom said, pulling a compact submachine gun and a half-dozen spare magazines out of the floor safe. “They thought they could track our movement through the school district’s public Wi-Fi network. They didn't expect us to hit their lead vehicle before they even reached the perimeter.”
A heavy thud echoed against the front door as someone swung a tactical battering ram into the wood.
The reinforced deadbolt held, but a long splintering crack spider-webbed across the center panel.
Titan stood directly in front of the kitchen doorway, his hackles raised, letting out a low, terrifying growl that sounded less like a dog and more like a caged wolf.
“Mom, we’re trapped,” I said, looking around the small kitchen. There was no back door—only a narrow, high window leading out into the enclosed courtyard.
“We aren't trapped,” Mom replied, her voice eerily calm as she checked the chamber of her weapon. “We’re in a kill zone. And they just walked into the center of it.”
She tapped her secure satellite radio twice.
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“This is Master Chief Reed, call sign Viper Actual,” she spoke into the mic with absolute, terrifying authority. “Emergency protocol Delta-Nine activated at Sector Four safehouse. Area is compromised. Execute immediate containment.”
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