Ava’s trembling hands gripped the armrests of the wheelchair as Margaret pressed the glass of hot water to her lips. / Chapter 4 / 20

Chapter 4 - Shadow of the Syndicate"Muzzle flashes at twelve o'clock! Move! Move!" Marcus bellowed, shoving Ethan behind the heavy reinforced vault door just as a hail of high-caliber bullets shattered the stone archway above the cellar stairs.

Dust and pulverized granite rained down on them. The thunderous roar of automatic fire filled the tight underground crypt, echoing with deafening intensity.

Ethan slammed the encrypted drive into his suit pocket and grabbed the leather ledger. "They knew we were coming! How could she possibly know?"

"Eleanor didn't act alone, you fool!" Marcus yelled back over the gunfire, crouching low as he returned fire up the spiral staircase. "Who do you think funded her rise after my brother died? Apex Financial isn't just a shell company—it's a syndicate of international oligarchs! She called in her favors!"

A tactical grenade bounced down the stone steps with a chilling metallic clatter—clack, clack, clack.

"Frag! Get back!" Marcus screamed, throwing his weight against Ethan as they threw themselves flat into the far corner of the vault.

BOOM!

The explosion rocked the underground foundation. The force of the shockwave knocked the air from Ethan's lungs, sending a blinding flash of white light through his vision. Debris rained down on them as thick grey smoke filled the airtight vault, making it impossible to breathe without coughing violently.

Through the ringing in his ears, Ethan heard heavy, tactical boots crunching over the rubble on the stairs. Three men in black tactical gear, wearing night-vision goggles and silenced submachine guns, descended into the smoke-filled room.

"Target the hard drive! Kill anyone inside!" an icy voice commanded from the top of the stairs.

Ethan gritted his teeth, his eyes burning from the acrid smoke. He grabbed a heavy iron candelabra off the mahogany desk, stood up silently behind the cover of a stone pillar, and lunged forward as the first mercenary passed him.

With a feral roar, Ethan slammed the solid iron base into the side of the mercenary's helmet. The soldier reeled back, stunned. Ethan grabbed the man's weapon, twisting it violently out of his grip, and kicked him hard in the chest, driving him back into the second shooter.

Marcus fired two quick shots from his sidearm, dropping the third mercenary where he stood.

"We need to get out of here now!" Ethan yelled, grabbing the submachine gun off the fallen mercenary. "They're going to collapse the entrance!"

Marcus sprinted toward the back wall of the crypt, feeling along the damp mortar until his hands caught an iron lever hidden behind a stone plaque of the Vance family coat of arms. "My brother built an escape hatch leading to the riverbank! Move!"

Marcus pulled the lever with all his strength. A section of the stone wall ground open, revealing a narrow mud-slick tunnel sloping downward into the darkness.

Just as another hail of bullets cut through the entrance, Ethan and Marcus dived into the narrow tunnel, pulling the heavy stone door shut behind them as explosions ripped through the vault above.

Ten minutes later, covered in mud and sweat, they emerged onto the foggy banks of the mist-covered river two miles down the valley. High above them on the ridge, the old chapel was now engulfed in orange flames, matching the inferno at Sterling Manor.