Chapter 16 - The Wisconsin CompoundThe snow began to fall as Chloe drove her sedan deep into the dense, pine-covered hills of northern Wisconsin, miles away from civilization. The dirt road was unplowed, thick with fresh powder that made her tires slide dangerously against the embankments.
After two hours of driving with her headlights off to avoid detection, she spotted them: a sprawling, timber-and-stone hunting lodge nestled against the edge of a frozen lake, surrounded by high-tech satellite jamming towers.
Costa family property.
Chloe killed her engine three hundred yards away, grabbed her canvas medical bag and her father’s old adjustable wrench, and crept silently through the freezing woods toward the perimeter fence.
The chain-link fence had been cut. Footprints in the snow led directly toward the rear service entrance of the lodge.
As she approached the heavy oak back door, the sharp, distinct sound of a gunshot echoed from inside the main hall.
Chloe didn't hesitate. She threw her weight against the heavy wooden door, bursting into the lodge with her service pistol drawn.
"Drop your weapons!" she shouted.
The scene inside the grand stone living room froze instantly.
Elena Costa stood near the stone fireplace, holding a smoking Glock. Dante stood beside her, covering the front windows. And tied to a wooden chair in the center of the room was Luca Moretti himself, bleeding heavily from a gash across his forehead, surrounded by three of his disarmed bodyguards.
And sitting calmly in an armchair by the fire, nursing a glass of scotch with handcuffs dangling loosely from one wrist, was Gabriel Costa.
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Gabriel looked up, his dark eyes meeting Chloe’s as she stood breathless in the doorway.
"You really don't know how to stay out of a firefight, do you, Agent Vance?" Gabriel asked, his voice a smooth, low baritone that sent a shiver straight down her spine.
