Chapter 14 - The Ambush at the Estate
On the floor of the private study, Sarah Sterling gasped for air, her body trembling from the electric shock of the quantum drive. The cool, arrogant mastermind had been broken in seconds by father and son.
"Call them off! Now!" Liam repeated, pressing the barrel of the suppressed handgun against her neck.
Sarah grimaced in pain, reaching up with a shaking hand to press her earbud transmitter. "Team... team leader... abort stand-down... hold the perimeter..."
"Wrong answer," Marcus said coldly, snatching the comms earpiece from her ear. He put it in his own ear and spoke in a deep, commanding voice: "Team Leader, this is Marcus Carter. Your employer is currently pinned to the floor with a firearm to her head. You step one foot closer to my wife, and Sarah Sterling dies."
A heavy, ruthless voice responded through the earbud: "Mr. Carter, this is Commander Vance of Apex Tactical—no relation to Ronald. We take orders directly from Director Nicholas Sterling. Sarah’s survival is secondary to the mission objective. Hand over the quantum drive, or your wife dies in thirty seconds."
Liam’s heart slammed against his chest. They were dealing with professional mercenaries who didn't care about collateral damage or sacrificed assets.
"Dad, what do we do?" Liam asked, keeping his weapon steady on Sarah.
"We execute plan B," Marcus said grimly.
Marcus reached under the lip of his mahogany desk and flipped a hidden red toggle switch marked *DEFENSE GRID ACTIVATION.*
Instantly, the entire Carter Estate plunged into total darkness as the main power grid was shut down. Simultaneously, heavy steel blast shutters slammed down over every window and exterior door in the mansion with loud, echoing thuds!
*CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!*
High-intensity defensive strobe lights exploded to life in the hallways, flooding the darkness with disorienting flashes of purple and red light. Automated acoustic frequency emitters began blasting high-pitched soundwaves designed to disrupt military night-vision and comms gear.
Down on the driveway, the four mercenaries shouted in confusion as their night-vision goggles were blinded by the strobes and their radios erupted with ear-splitting static.
"What the hell is this?!" Commander Vance barked, tearing his night-vision headset off. "Break into the main entrance! Use breaching charges!"
Inside the darkened study, Marcus grabbed Sarah by her collar, dragging her up and zip-tying her hands behind her back with tactical restraints from his desk drawer.
"Liam, take the high-capacity shotgun from the wall cabinet," Marcus ordered, pulling a tactical suppressed rifle from behind a hidden bookshelf compartment. "We're going downstairs to get your mother."
"I'm ready," Liam said, racking the slide of the tactical shotgun with smooth, practiced confidence.
They stepped out into the strobing, shadowed hallway of the mansion. The acoustic frequency generators were buzzing, making the walls vibrate.
Two mercenaries breached the lower patio doors, moving up the grand marble staircase with assault rifles raised.
"Left flank!" Liam called out.
Liam leaned over the second-floor balcony railing and fired three rapid shotgun rounds down into the staircase landing!
*BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!*
The heavy bean-bag rounds and non-lethal shock shells slammed into the tactical armor of the two mercenaries, lifting them off their feet and sending them tumbling down the marble stairs, unconscious.
Marcus moved down the service stairs like a shadow, turning the corner into the rear garage entry. Through the reinforced glass of the side door, he saw Commander Vance holding Eleanor Carter near the rear bumper of the black tactical van.
Marcus didn't hesitate. He kicked the side door open and fired two precise rounds through the van's side mirrors, creating deafening blasts that drew Vance's attention!
Vance turned, using Eleanor as a shield, aiming his sidearm at Marcus. "Stay back, Carter! I'll take her with me!"
"Look up, Commander," Liam’s voice echoed from the roof overhang directly above the driveway.
Vance reflexively looked up toward the roofline.
That microsecond of distraction was all Marcus needed. Marcus lunged forward, grabbing Vance’s weapon arm, twisting it upward while sweeping his leg around Vance’s calf. Vance crashed onto the concrete driveway, his weapon spinning out of reach.
Eleanor stumbled backward into Liam’s waiting arms. "Liam! Marcus!"
"We've got you, Mom," Liam reassured her, cutting her wrist ties with a tactical knife. "You're safe."
Marcus pinned Commander Vance to the ground, placing his knee firmly on the man's spine. He snatched Vance’s tactical radio and cleared the frequency.
"Nicholas Sterling," Marcus spoke into the radio, his voice lethal and unshakeable. "Your daughter is in my basement in cuffs. Your tactical team is neutralized. And I'm coming for you next."
From the speaker of the radio, Director Nicholas Sterling’s voice responded, slow, old, but terrifyingly confident:
May you like
"You always were a violent idealist, Marcus. Come to Geneva then. Let us end this where it all began twenty-five years ago."
================================================================================
