Chapter 5 - Crossfire“Drop the weapons!” a harsh voice bellowed from the catwalks above.
Markus instantly shifted, positioning his body in front of mine, his rifle raised. “Boss, we’re boxed in. Movement to our six—more men coming through the rear delivery bays.”
I didn't panic. Panic was a luxury for men who couldn't control their own fates. For eight years, I had mapped out every betrayal, every vulnerability, and every escape route in this city. I knew this warehouse; I had bought it five years ago under a shell corporation.
“Julian,” I called out calmly, keeping my pistol locked on his chest despite the dozen rifles pointed at my head. “You always were theatrical. But you forgot one fundamental rule of the harbor.”
Julian paused, narrowing his scarred eyes. “What rule is that?”
“Never trap a rat in a room with two exits unless you check the tide schedules.”
I pressed a hidden panic button built into the wrist control of my medical brace.
BOOM.
The entire eastern floor-to-ceiling bay door blew outward in a wall of fire and water. The high tide of the harbor crashed through the lower level, a massive wall of freezing seawater surging into the warehouse, sweeping away the incoming reinforcements and short-circuiting the power grid instantly.
Total darkness plunged the warehouse into chaos. Red emergency strobe lights flickered to life overhead, casting long, frantic shadows.
“Fire! Kill them both!” Julian screamed from somewhere in the dark.
Bullets chewed through the metal containers around us, sparking wildly. Markus returned fire, suppressing the catwalk snipers with disciplined bursts from his carbine.
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My legs protested fiercely against the sudden shock of ice-cold water splashing around my boots, but adrenaline surged through my veins, overriding the physical pain. I lunged forward through the mist and smoke, tracking Julian’s silhouette as he bolted toward a private exit at the back of the platform.
“You’re not running this time, Julian!” I shouted, pushing my newly awakened legs past their biological limits.
