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“The doctor said she was beaten by 8 men. But when I checked the security footage from our bedroom, I realized the ultimate monster was the one standing right behind me…” / Chapter 5 / 8

Chapter 5 - RAIN AND RED LIGHT

A storm was breaking over Central Texas. Heavy, torrential rain slashed against the windshield of the stolen military-spec Humvee Ethan had retrieved from his firm's private armory on the outskirts of Austin.

The Blackwood Citadel was a sprawling, 50-acre fortress nestled in the rocky hills of Dripping Springs. Surrounded by twelve-foot concrete walls, topped with razor wire, and monitored by thermal cameras, it was designed to withstand a siege.

Victor Blackwood had spent forty years building his empire on corruption, blood, and extortion. He believed his money made him untouchable.

He was about to learn that money couldn't buy protection from a husband who had nothing left to lose.

Ethan stopped the Humvee half a mile from the compound's perimeter wall. He suited up in black night-ops armor, loading four magazines of armor-piercing 5.56 rounds into his rifle, securing night-vision goggles over his helmet, and strapping a high-yield breaching charge to his chest pack.

He moved through the mud and brush silently, an apparition in the downpour.

At the eastern perimeter, he identified the main security relay box. Ethan attached an EMP charge to the housing unit and detonated it.

POP.

Instantly, a fifty-yard radius of perimeter lights, cameras, and electric fencing went dark.

Ethan threw a padded climbing ladder over the concrete wall, vaulted over, and dropped into the dark compound grounds.

The storm provided perfect acoustic cover. Through his thermals, Ethan spotted two guards patrolling the perimeter track. He moved up fast from behind, striking the first with a hard knife-hand blow to the carotid artery, then catching the second in a chokehold before he could touch his shoulder radio. Both men went down without making a sound.

Ethan dragged their bodies into the brush, took their keycards, and advanced toward the main mansion.

Inside the Citadel's high-tech control room, Victor Blackwood stood behind a massive marble desk, sipping scotch. Flanking him were his remaining six sons—all dressed in tailored suits, looking anxious as the main security monitors flickered and died one by one.

"What's happening with the east wall?" Victor snapped, turning to his head of security. "Fix those cameras!"

"Sir, an EMP blast just took out Sector 3," the security director reported, his voice tight. "We have lost comms with patrol units 4 and 5."

Marcus Blackwood, his jaw bandaged from his earlier encounter with Ethan, stepped forward, his eyes wide with fear. "It's Walker. Dad, I told you! He's not a normal soldier! He wiped out three of our best guys at his house in under sixty seconds!"

Victor slammed his glass down, shattering the crystal. "Shut up, Marcus! He's one man! We have twenty heavily armed men on this property! Find him and riddle him with lead!"

Suddenly, the heavy iron doors of the grand foyer below were blown inward with a deafening BOOM!

A shockwave rattled the chandelier above. The lights in the entire mansion flickered red as the emergency backup power kicked in.

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The hunt was over. The siege had begun.

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