Chapter 44
Though the traitor had been eliminated, the damage was already done. The Phantom had acquired the exact coordinates of the Vance syndicate's strategic supply lines. The very next night, a massive explosion rocked the eastern seaboard ports. Two massive warehouses storing millions of dollars in untraceable cargo erupted into towering infernos, painting the night sky in brilliant, devastating orange.
Clara stood in the underground command bunker beneath the Chicago estate, watching the live satellite feeds of the burning eastern docks. Her face was illuminated by the glow of a dozen monitors, her posture completely rigid.
"He's trying to spread our forces thin," Clara observed, her tactical mind working at lightspeed. "The eastern ports are a distraction. The cargo there is heavily insured. He is going after the southern docks. That is where the Rossi family is delivering the new shipment of heavy ordnance tonight."
Silas strapped a kevlar vest over his black tactical shirt, chambering a round into his assault rifle. "I am taking the Alpha team to the southern docks. Marco is coming with me. You stay here, lock down the estate grid, and keep Julian safe."
"Do not underestimate him, Silas," Clara warned, walking over and resting her hand on his chest. "He fights like a ghost. He won't face you in the open."
"I am going to exorcise him," Silas promised, pressing a fierce kiss to her forehead before rushing out of the bunker.
The Vance armored convoy tore through a torrential thunderstorm, arriving at the southern docks just as the Phantom’s mercenaries breached the perimeter fences. Gunfire erupted instantly, the sharp cracks of automatic weapons echoing over the crashing waves of the harbor. Silas and Marco plunged into the chaotic firefight like apex predators, cutting down the mercenaries with ruthless precision amidst the maze of shipping containers.
The rain washed the blood into the drains as Silas pushed the line forward, securing the Rossi weapons shipment. But the Phantom was nowhere to be seen in the crossfire.
Suddenly, the roar of a heavy diesel engine cut through the gunfire. A massive armored transport truck, rigged with hundreds of pounds of C4, accelerated wildly down the pier, barreling directly toward Silas’s defensive line.
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"Fall back! Vehicle bomb!" Marco screamed over the comms.
Silas didn't retreat. He dropped to one knee in the pouring rain, raised his assault rifle, and fired a sustained, precision burst directly through the rain-slicked windshield of the truck. The driver slumped over the wheel, dead instantly. The heavy truck veered sharply to the right, crashing violently into a steel crane and exploding in a blinding, concussive fireball fifty yards away. The shockwave threw Silas to the wet pavement, but the core shipment was saved. The Phantom had missed his mark.
