Chapter 10 - Blood on the Iron Gates
The chase up the concrete stairwell of the Grand Imperial ended not on the roof, but in the underground parking garage.
Marco had used an internal laundry chute to drop straight down into the subterranean delivery tunnels.
By the time Daniel and Norah reached the lowest level, Marco’s armored Mercedes SUV had already smashed through the security gate.
The underboss had mobilized every remaining mercenary on his payroll, desperate to pull off one final, catastrophic counterstrike.
Instead of fleeing to the airport, Marco knew he could never survive with Daniel Russo hunting him across the globe.
His only path to survival was the total destruction of the Russo family fortress on the ridge before dawn arrived.
When Daniel and Norah returned to the estate at two in the morning, the mountain forest was pitch-black and eerily still.
The heavy wrought-iron security gates at the perimeter had been cut open with thermite torches, the metal glowing dull red in the snow.
The private communications towers on the northern ridge were dead, severed by an organized tactical strike team.
""He's already inside the perimeter,"" Daniel said, killing the Charger’s engine half a mile down the private access road.
""He brought everything he has left.""
Norah stepped out into the freezing wind, pulling a suppressed submachine gun from the trunk of the car.
The high-heeled evening shoes were gone, replaced by tactical boots she had kept in the backseat.
She tied her emerald silk skirt into a knot above her knee to allow full mobility in the deep snowdrifts.
""Where will they hit first?"" Norah asked, checking the red-dot optic on her weapon.
""The west generator station,"" Daniel explained, strapping an ammunition vest over his tuxedo shirt.
""If they kill the secondary generators, the steel security shutters on the mansion windows will lose hydraulic pressure.""
""They want to breach the ground floor and slaughter everyone inside before sunrise.""
Suddenly, a brilliant flash of light lit up the tree line half a mile ahead, followed by the deep, booming detonation of C4 plastic explosive.
Flames shot into the winter sky as the west generator building collapsed into a fiery crater.
""Mrs Gable and the house staff are inside the basement storm shelter,"" Norah said, her voice tight with fierce dread.
""They won't survive if Marco’s men breach the lower kitchen tunnels.""
""Then we don't let them reach the house,"" Daniel said, racking the slide of his combat rifle.
They advanced through the dense pine forest, using the blazing fire of the generator station as a visual cover.
Through night-vision binoculars, Norah counted eight heavily armed contractors moving in tactical pairs toward the rear terrace.
They were equipped with night-vision goggles, Kevlar body armor, and suppressed automatic weapons.
At the rear of the squad walked Marco Bellini, screaming obscenities into a tactical radio and waving a chrome semi-automatic pistol.
""I take the four on the left flank,"" Daniel whispered, bracing his rifle barrel against the trunk of an ancient pine.
""You cover the service driveway on the right.""
""Understood,"" Norah replied, dropping to one knee in the snow and sighting down her barrel.
Daniel opened fire with terrifying, clinical efficiency.
Four rapid shots dropped the two lead mercenaries before they could even identify the direction of the muzzle flash.
The remaining contractors scattered behind the stone retaining walls of the terrace, opening up with frantic, heavy automatic fire.
Tracers cut through the falling snow like laser beams, chewing into the pine trees and showering Daniel and Norah with bark and ice.
A mercenary advanced along the service driveway, attempting to flank Daniel's position with an assault shotgun.
Norah tracked the thermal silhouette of his helmet through her optic.
She breathed out a steady cloud of white vapor and squeezed the trigger three times in rhythmic succession.
The rounds punched through the mercenary’s chest plate, dropping him instantly across the stone pavers of the walkway.
""Right flank is clear!"" Norah shouted over the deafening roar of gunfire.
A grenade arced through the night air, bouncing off the limestone balustrade ten feet from where Daniel was pinned.
""Daniel, grenade!"" Norah screamed, lunging across the frozen grass with reckless speed.
Daniel saw the explosive, turned, and threw his entire body over Norah just as the fragmentation device detonated.
The shockwave threw them both into the frozen snowdrifts, a deafening blast of heat and shrapnel tearing through the air.
A jagged piece of steel sliced across Daniel's left shoulder, soaking his white tuxedo shirt in crimson blood.
Norah pushed herself upright, her ears ringing with high-pitched feedback, her eyes stinging from smoke.
""Daniel!"" she cried out, grabbing his lapel and pulling him into the cover of a marble fountain.
Daniel coughed, spitting a mouthful of blood into the snow, but his dark eyes remained burning with lethal resolve.
""I'm fine,"" Daniel grunted through gritted teeth, checking his rifle magazine with one bloody hand.
""It's just flesh and paint.""
He looked at her, his hand reaching up to touch her cheek, wiping away a smear of black soot.
""You came back for me again, Norah.""
""I don't leave people behind, Daniel,"" she whispered, her voice fierce and unyielding.
""Not my mother, not my neighbors, and not you.""
From across the terrace, Marco Bellini’s voice echoed through the smoking ruins of the patio.
""Russo!"" Marco screamed hysterically, firing his chrome pistol wildly into the dark trees.
""You think this city belongs to you?!""
""The council owns the docks, and the state owns the contracts!""
""You're nothing but a relic in a big house!""
Norah peeked around the marble fountain and saw Marco retreating toward a heavy fuel tanker parked beside the main service garage.
He was holding an electronic detonator wired directly to the garage’s underground propane reservoir.
""If he blows that tank, the entire west wing will be wiped off the mountain,"" Norah said, her heart leaping into her throat.
Daniel tried to push himself up, but the shrapnel wound in his shoulder buckled his left arm.
""I can't steady the long rifle,"" Daniel hissed in frustration, blood dripping from his sleeve.
Norah took the heavy rifle from his hands, resting the long barrel securely across the smooth rim of the marble fountain.
""Then let the maid handle the trash,"" Norah said calmly.
She peered through the high-powered thermal scope, adjusting the windage for the falling sleet.
Through the crosshairs, four hundred yards across the snowy lawn, she saw Marco Bellini’s thumb hovering over the red detonator switch.
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She didn't hesitate.
She squeezed the trigger, letting the weapon kick back into her shoulder with a sharp, thunderous roar.
