Chapter 10 - The Siege of the Mountain
Four hours later, a massive thunderstorm rolled over the Appalachian mountains.
The sky bruised violently purple, and thunder shook the foundations of the safe house.
Lily was hiding under the covers in her bed, clutching her stuffed rabbit.
Beatrice sat beside her, rubbing the little girl's back, trying to ignore her own racing heart.
Downstairs, the security alarms suddenly began to blare.
It was a piercing, mechanical screech that meant the perimeter had been breached.
Beatrice jumped up, the 9mm handgun heavy in her sweater pocket.
Mateo's voice crackled through the intercom system in the bedroom.
"Lock the door, Beatrice! Do not come out!"
Gunfire erupted downstairs.
It wasn't a skirmish; it sounded like an entire army had descended on the house.
Beatrice grabbed Lily, dragging her off the bed and into the reinforced walk-in closet.
She pushed the child behind a row of winter coats.
"Cover your ears, sweet girl," Beatrice whispered, trying to keep her voice steady.
"Is the thunder back?" Lily cried, trembling violently.
"Just bad thunder, baby. I won't let it hurt you."
Beatrice backed out of the closet and slammed the heavy wooden door shut.
She stood in the middle of the master bedroom, pulling the gun from her pocket.
Her hands shook so badly she could barely hold it straight.
Downstairs, the gunfire suddenly stopped.
The silence that followed was entirely terrifying.
"Mateo?" Beatrice called out weakly, though she knew he couldn't hear her.
Heavy boots began to ascend the wooden staircase.
They were slow.
Methodical.
These weren't Mateo's quick, tactical footsteps.
Someone kicked the bedroom door.
The heavy wood shuddered but held firm.
A second kick shattered the lock entirely, sending the door flying open.
Three men stepped into the room, wearing dark tactical gear and ski masks.
The leader laughed, a cruel, ugly sound.
"Well, look what we have here," he sneered, pointing a massive assault rifle at her chest.
"The boss said the Rossi brat had a new nanny."
Beatrice raised the 9mm, aiming it directly at the man's head just as Mateo had quickly shown her.
"Get out," she ordered, her voice trembling but loud.
The men laughed harder.
"You don't even have the safety off, sweetheart," the leader mocked, taking a step closer.
Beatrice's thumb scrambled, finding the tiny switch on the side of the gun and clicking it down.
The click echoed loudly in the room.
The men stopped laughing.
"Take one more step toward that closet," Beatrice said, her maternal instinct completely overriding her fear.
"And I will put a bullet directly between your eyes."
The leader sneered, raising his rifle.
"I'd like to see you try, fat bitch."
Before the man could pull the trigger, the glass window behind them shattered into a million glittering pieces.
A sniper bullet tore through the stormy night, striking the leader perfectly in the center of his forehead.
He dropped like a stone.
The other two men spun around in panic.
Mateo stepped out from the shadows of the hallway, his face streaked with blood and rain.
He fired twice.
Both men hit the floor, dead before they even realized they were bleeding.
Mateo lowered his weapon, panting heavily.
"Good girl," Mateo said, looking at the gun still firmly gripped in Beatrice's hands.
"But next time, don't warn them."
Mateo's radio suddenly crackled on his vest.
"Mateo," Leo's voice came through the static, sounding completely exhausted.
"Kensington is dead."
Mateo let out a long breath.
"Then who the hell just attacked the safe house?" Mateo demanded.
The radio went dead silent.
And then, from the shattered window, a dark figure stepped into the room.
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It was Victoria Kensington, soaking wet, holding a silver revolver.
And she was smiling.
