Chapter 9 - THE FINAL STAND AT THE LODGE"Get down!" I roared, leaping up from the desk and drawing my Glock.
"Mom! Julian!" Milo screamed as Mason, Max, and Micah scrambled off the rug, running toward us in absolute panic.
"To the back rooms! Now!" Mara yelled, scooping up Micah while I grabbed Milo and shoved them toward the reinforced back storage room of the cabin.
Heavy impacts shook the front of the cabin as the first wave of mercenaries opened fire, shattering the front windows and chewing up the log walls. Wood splinters exploded into the air like shrapnel.
I fired three rounds back through the shattered window frame, dropping the lead operative as he tried to kick open the front door.
"Julian, the back exit!" Mara shouted, pushing the boys toward the heavy rear service door that led down toward the frozen riverbank behind the woods.
"Go! I'll cover you!" I ordered, standing my ground in the center of the living room, firing deliberately at every muzzle flash appearing through the smoke and snow outside.
The door splintered open, and two armed men rushed into the cabin.
I took down the first with a center-mass shot, but the second lunged forward, slamming the butt of his rifle into my shoulder and knocking me hard against the stone hearth.
My pistol slipped from my hand, skittering across the hardwood floor just out of reach.
The operative raised his weapon, leveling it directly at my chest with a cold, dead grin. “Say goodbye, Julian.”
Before he could pull the trigger, a heavy thud echoed through the room.
Mara slammed a cast-iron skillet with full force into the back of the operative's head. The man collapsed like a sack of wet cement, unconscious before he hit the floor.
Mara stood over him, breathing heavily, holding the skillet like a war club. She looked at me, her eyes wild with adrenaline.
"Don't you ever try to play hero alone," she snapped, grabbing my arm and hauling me to my feet.
"Remind me never to mess with you," I gasped, grabbing my pistol from the floor.
"Move! The boys are outside!"
We sprinted out the back door into the blinding snow, plunging down the embankment toward the frozen river where Milo, Mason, Max, and Micah were waiting near a thick cluster of pine trees.
Behind us, the sound of federal sirens began wailing through the mountain pass—a distant, glorious chorus echoing across the valley.
May you like
As we reached the tree line, a fleet of black-and-white FBI cruisers and federal tactical vehicles swarmed the cabin, lights flashing red and blue against the white snow. Heavily armed federal agents poured out, surrounding Vance’s mercenaries and forcing them to drop their weapons in the snow.
It was over. The siege was broken.
