Chapter 6 - INTO THE SNOWThe freezing winter air hit them like a physical wall as Richard dragged Michael and Lily out onto the high-rise balcony. Below them, the glittering courtyard of the Gilded Spoon was deserted, swept by swirling drifts of snow.
"Climb over the railing!" Richard ordered, his breath pluming white in the sub-zero wind.
"Dad, we're on the fourth floor!" Michael cried out, his face pale with terror.
"There's a service scaffold for the window washers just two feet to the left!" Richard yelled over the howling gale. "Michael, listen to me. I'm going to pass Lily to you. You hold her tight and climb down the ladder. Do not look down!"
The sound of boots kicking against the reinforced glass door of the suite echoed behind them. The intruders were about to blow the lock.
With desperate strength, Richard transferred Lily into his son's trembling arms, guiding Michael’s small hands onto the icy steel railing of the maintenance scaffold. "Go! Now!"
Bullets ricocheted off the stonework around them, showering sparks into the dark air. Richard turned back just as the balcony door blew inward in a cloud of splintered timber and smoke. The lead operative stepped through, raising his rifle dead-set at Richard’s chest.
Without thinking, Richard lunged forward, tackling the gunman mid-stride just as he pulled the trigger. The bullet flew wild, shattering a decorative iron lantern. They grappled violently on the slick, snow-dusted tiles of the balcony, the operative’s superior combat training clashing against Richard’s raw, protective fury.
"Mr. Morgan!" Michael’s terrified scream drifted up from the scaffold below.
Richard managed to drive his elbow hard into the operative’s throat, hearing a satisfying crunch through the mask, before scrambling backward toward the edge. He vaulted over the railing, dropping heavily onto the vibrating metal platform of the scaffold just as a second gunman appeared on the balcony above, raining suppressive fire down upon them.
"Lower the cable, Michael! Hit the emergency descent lever!" Richard roared, blood dripping from a gash on his forehead.
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Michael slammed his small palm onto the red emergency release button. The steel cable groaned, and the scaffold plummeted downward twenty feet in a stomach-churning drop before locking into place near the kitchen delivery bays.
Without losing a second, Richard scooped up Lily, grabbed Michael by the shoulder, and bolted through the swinging stainless-steel doors of the restaurant's subterranean loading zone, disappearing into the labyrinthine back alleys of the city just as sirens began to wail in the distance.
