Chapter 5 - Blood in the StarlightVincent moved with silent, lethal grace, though every step sent fresh lines of fire radiating from his ribs.
He pushed open the shattered trauma room door, his broad shoulders shielding Nora as they stepped out into the smoking corridor. The air smelled of cordite, burnt plastic, and copper. Two of Caleb’s guards lay slumped against the wall, motionless. A few feet away, one of the masked assassins groaned, clutching a shattered femur.
Caleb was kneeling behind the overturned reception desk, reloading his magazine with mechanical precision. He looked up, his eyes widening in shock as he saw Vincent standing upright, bleeding profusely but lethal as a cornered wolf.
“Boss!” Caleb hissed. “The whole ground floor is compromised. They cut the elevators and locked the security gates from the main terminal. We’re trapped on the third floor.”
“They didn't trap us,” Vincent replied, his voice a low, gravelly rumble. “They funneled us. Someone inside the hospital gave them our exact floor layout and security overrides.”
Caleb’s gaze flicked to Melissa, who was huddled beneath a metal desk a few feet away, shaking so hard she looked ready to pass out.
“It wasn't her,” Nora said suddenly, stepping past Vincent. She knelt beside Melissa, checking the terrified woman’s pulse, then looked up at Caleb. “She’s too cowardly to orchestrate an assassination squad. She only cares about saving her own skin. This was an executive-level leak.”
Vincent’s gray eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. “Marcus Vance.”
“Your chief financial officer?” Caleb asked, his face darkening. “He has the master encryption keys to the shipping ports and the offshore accounts.”
“And he knew I was coming to Lakeshore Crown tonight for routine check-ins,” Vincent finished, a dark, chilling smile touching his lips. “The rat finally decided to chew through the cage.”
Before Caleb could reply, the emergency stairwell door at the far end of the corridor groaned open. Heavy combat boots crunched against the shattered glass. Flashlights cut through the amber gloom, sweeping the walls and ceiling in disciplined, military sweeps.
Four heavily armed operatives in unmarked black tactical gear stepped into the hallway, their assault rifles leveled directly at the nurses' station.
“Mercer!” the lead operative shouted through a voice-modulating mask. “It’s over! Drop your weapons and step into the light!”
Vincent didn't drop anything. Instead, with blinding speed, he reached down, snatched the Glock from the fallen guard at his feet, and fired three rapid shots without even raising his arm to eye level.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The lead operative dropped instantly, a clean round through the center of his tactical visor.
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Chaos erupted in the corridor as muzzle flashes lit up the darkness like strobes. Bullets chewed through the drywall, showering the hallway in white plaster dust and concrete shrapnel.
“Down!” Vincent roared, hooking his arm around Nora’s waist and physically tackling her behind the reinforced steel frame of the medical supply room door as return fire from Caleb shredded the remaining ceiling tiles.
