Chapter 5 - The Line in the Dust—You think you can take an entire room of armed men, Vance?— the boss asked, his voice dropping into a dangerous, icy register. He didn't look back at his men, but he could feel their presence shifting — the collective, lethal focus of a pack that had rediscovered its alpha.
Vance chuckled, raising his carbine until the laser sight painted a bright red dot squarely between the boss’s eyes. —An entire room of criminals? Against a federally authorized tactical response unit with real-time satellite surveillance and orbital comms? It won't even be a fight. It’s a clearance operation.—
He gestured with his left hand to the squad behind him. The operators fanned out, forming a half-circle, their rifle barrels locked and loaded, fingers twitching on the triggers.
—Give me the child, Vance demanded, stepping closer. —And maybe — just maybe — I’ll let your men walk out of here with their lives. Refuse, and we burn this club to the ground with everyone inside it, starting with the brat.—
The boss looked down at the baby. For a fleeting second, his expression softened — not with fear, but with a profound, aching sorrow. He traced the small, hand-stitched embroidery on the corner of the wool blanket with his thumb.
Then, he looked back up at Vance.
—You want the key?— the boss asked quietly.
—I want the child.—
—Then come and get it.—
With a sudden, violent motion, the boss didn't run — he dropped to one knee, pulling a heavy tactical flash-bang from his belt with his free hand, yanking the pin with his teeth, and hurling it directly into the center of the squad's formation.
FLASH! BANG!
A blinding wall of white-hot magnesium light and a deafening, chest-compressing shockwave obliterated the club's remaining acoustics. Shouts of disorientation echoed through the smoke as the black-ops operators stumbled backward, their tactical visors flashing red as their night-vision systems fried.
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—FIRE!— Tommy roared from the syndicate side.
The private club erupted into a chaotic symphony of muzzle flashes, shattering glass, and splintering wood.
