Chapter 10 - The Siege at Safe House Four
The state safe house was an unassuming brick ranch-style building tucked behind a grove of bare oak trees off Route 4, surrounded by a chain-link fence and monitored by two parked state police cruisers. To anyone driving past, it looked like a quiet government administrative office.
To Daniel, it looked like a trap.
Leo killed the headlights two hundred yards down the road, pulling the sedan off onto a muddy shoulder hidden by a thick wall of frozen brush. Daniel reached into the back seat, picking up a heavy tactical duffel bag Leo had tossed in earlier—inside sat a suppressed carbine, extra magazines, and a pair of night-vision optics.
"The state troopers running perimeter security haven't answered their radios in ten minutes," Leo said, his voice dropping to a tense whisper as he checked the slide of his own pistol. "That means either their comms are jammed, or they've already been cleared."
"Stay here," Daniel commanded, pushing the car door open. "If I'm not back out in twenty minutes, take the car and get the girls across the state line."
"Daniel—"
"Do it, Leo."
Daniel slipped out into the freezing darkness, hugging the tree line as he circled the perimeter of the safe house. The sleet had turned into a steady, freezing drizzle that coated the grass in a thin, crackling sheet of ice. Every step required absolute silence.
As he reached the back fence, he saw the first body.
A state trooper lay face down in the frozen mud near the rear generator housing, his service weapon still in its holster, a neat, silenced entry wound drilled squarely between his shoulder blades.
Daniel’s heart hammered against his ribs—not with fear, but with a cold, terrifying clarity that he hadn't felt in twenty years. Vincent wasn't just trying to frame him anymore. He was coming to finish the bloodline.
Crouching low, Daniel slid through a cut in the chain-link fence and moved toward the rear kitchen window, which had been forced open from the inside. He pulled himself over the sill, dropping silently onto the linoleum floor.
The house was pitch black, save for the faint green glow of emergency exit signs down the narrow hallway. From the master bedroom came the faint sound of a child whimpering, followed by a low, soothing voice that wasn't a nurse, and wasn't a police officer.
It was Vincent.
Daniel raised his carbine, clicking off the safety with a microscopic click, and stepped silently down the hall toward the open bedroom door.
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Inside, illuminated by the pale light of a bedside lamp, Vincent stood leaning over the crib where infant Maddie was sleeping, holding a leather strap in one hand while his other hand loosely gripped a pistol pointed down at Lily, who sat frozen against the headboard of the twin bed with wide, terror-stricken eyes.
"Don't move an inch, big brother," Vincent whispered without turning around, his eyes fixed on the mirror reflecting the doorway. "I knew you couldn't resist coming to check on your new family."
