Chapter 16 - Checkmate in the BallroomI slipped through the hidden service door behind the mahogany wet bar, my breathing shallow and controlled. The service corridor was pitch black, lit only by the faint red emergency floor strips. My bare feet made no sound against the carpet.
Ahead of me, through the slatted louvers of the swinging pantry door, I could see the grand ballroom.
Three Phoenix operatives were crouched behind velvet-upholstered couches, their weapons aimed squarely at the grand double doors where Dante was about to make his noise.
One minute... two minutes...
Suddenly, the heavy double doors flew open with a tremendous crash.
"Moretti! Drop your weapon!" one of the operatives screamed, turning their focus toward the entrance.
That was my cue.
I kicked the pantry door open, stepping out with the Glock raised in a two-handed combat grip. "Hey! Assholes!" I yelled at the top of my lungs.
All three operatives whipped around in shock. A woman with a red phoenix tattoo branding her neck raised her rifle toward me.
I fired twice.
My first shot missed, sparking off the marble floor, but the second caught her weapon's receiver, jamming her rifle instantly. Cursing, she drew a tactical combat knife, lunging straight at me with terrifying speed.
Time seemed to freeze. I braced my stance, remembered every combat video Dante's men had quietly reviewed with me over the last six months, and waited until the exact microsecond she lunged within arm's reach.
As she swung the blade toward my throat, I ducked beneath the arc, spun on my heel, and slammed the butt of my heavy Glock straight into the side of her temple.
She collapsed like a broken doll, unconscious before she hit the floor.
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Before the other two operatives could recover from the shock, Dante burst through the double doors, his rifle raised, and fired two precise, decisive shots that neutralized the remaining threat.
Silence fell over the grand ballroom, broken only by the crackle of distant flames from a burning hedge outside.
