Chapter 6 - The Traitor Revealed
"They found us," Grace whispered, pulling two tactical combat knives from a hidden drawer and handing Ethan a heavy iron crowbar. "Stay behind me."
"Grace, it’s the SWAT team!" Ethan panicked. "If we fight the police—"
"Those aren't real police," Grace interrupted, peering through the slat of the window blinds. "Real SWAT uses blue tactical lasers. Those are crimson IR-designators. It’s Sterling’s private mercenary squad—the Black Mamba contractor group."
BANG!
The heavy steel front door was blown off its hinges by a breaching charge. Smoke billowed into the apartment as four heavy-armored mercenaries wearing night-vision goggles rushed into the room, assault rifles raised.
Grace moved like a shadow in the smoke.
She swept the feet of the first mercenary, driving her tactical knife into the joint of his shoulder armor. He screamed, dropping his rifle. Grace snatched the falling weapon in mid-air, spun around, and used the heavy stock to strike the second mercenary across the helmet, shattering his night-vision goggles.
Ethan, fueled by protective rage, lunged at the third mercenary, swinging the iron crowbar with all his strength. The bar hit the mercenary’s arm, knocking his gun loose.
Meanwhile, Grace ducked under a hail of gunfire from the fourth tactical soldier, closed the distance instantly, and delivered a devastating knee strike to his chin, dropping him instantly.
In less than forty seconds, all four intruders were incapacitated on the concrete floor.
Grace cleared the smoke, checking the perimeter. But as she turned back to Ethan, she froze.
Standing at the destroyed doorway, illuminated by the streetlights outside, was a man holding a silenced pistol pointed directly at Ethan’s heart.
It wasn't a mercenary. It was Marcus Vance—Ethan’s most trusted personal attorney and best friend since college.
"Marcus?" Ethan gasped, his voice cracking. "What... what are you doing here?"
Marcus smiled sadly, adjusting his expensive glasses. "I’m sorry, Ethan. Truly, I am. But Senator Sterling offered me twenty percent of Caldwell Shipping once the transfer was completed. Do you have any idea how much money that is? It’s enough to buy immunity anywhere in the world."
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"You helped them poison Clara?" Ethan whispered, tears of betrayal welling in his eyes.
"Clara was getting too smart, just like this maid here," Marcus sneered, shifting his aim toward Grace. "Drop the rifle, Grace. Or I put a bullet in Ethan’s skull right now."
