Chapter 6 - The Siege of Ashford ManorHeavy-caliber rounds tore through the leaded glass windows of the study, chewing up the mahogany bookcases and raining splinters across the room.
"Get down!" Conrad shouted, lunging forward and tackling Elena behind the heavy oak desk just as a barrage of suppressive fire lit up the night outside.
More operatives were swarming the grounds. Infrared laser sights crisscrossed the study walls like a spiderweb of death.
Marcus rolled across the floor during the chaos, diving behind a marble pillar near the fireplace just as Conrad returned fire through the shattered window frame, popping off three rapid shots that forced the outside snipers to duck.
"Conrad! There's too many of them!" Elena yelled over the deafening roar of automatic gunfire echoing from all sides of the mansion. "They brought an entire tactical unit! The tunnel breach was a diversion!"
"They want the house burned to the ground with us inside it," Conrad said, his expression icy and completely devoid of panic. Men like Conrad Ashford didn't panic when cornered; they calculated odds and found the bloodiest way out.
He reached beneath the heavy mahogany desk, flipping a concealed brass switch.
A loud, pneumatic hum vibrated through the floorboards. Behind the massive bookshelves, a heavy steel blast door began to slide open, revealing a hidden panic room equipped with satellite comms, heavy weaponry, and a private armored vehicle bay.
"Move!" Conrad grabbed Elena by her uninjured arm, hauling her toward the vault.
"What about Marcus?" she cried, looking back toward the pillar.
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Marcus was already scrambling toward the shattered window, shouting into a tactical radio strapped to his shoulder. "Target is moving toward the inner core! Bring up the thermal charges! Blow the western wing!"
Conrad didn't waste a bullet on him. He shoved Elena inside the steel vault, slamming the biometric lock shut just as a deafening explosion ripped through the western wing of the mansion, shaking the foundations and plunging the entire room into total darkness.
