Chapter 6 - THE ASTORIA AMBUSH
The deafening roar of gunfire filled the small bookstore. Wood splinters and shredded book pages rained down on
us as we huddled behind the thick oak counter. These weren't local thugs; these were the highly trained, elite
mercenaries of Aegis Shield, sent by Celeste to eliminate us once and for all.
“We need to move, now!” I shouted over the noise, my heart racing but my mind incredibly clear, operating
on pure adrenaline and years of combat training.
“They have the front exit blocked!” Maya yelled back, clutching her laptop close to her chest.
“There’s a loading dock through the back storeroom,” Clara gasped, terrified but trying to stay focused.
I looked around the edge of the counter. One of the mercenaries was advancing slowly down the center aisle,
his rifle raised, scanning the room. He was professional, keeping his weapon tight to his shoulder.
I grabbed a heavy, cast-iron bookend from the shelf next to me. I hurled it across the room, smashing a glass
display case on the far wall. The sudden noise drew the mercenary’s attention, and he swung his rifle toward the
sound.
That split-second distraction was all I needed.
I launched myself from behind the counter, closing the distance between us in a heartbeat. Before he could
swing his weapon back, I executed a powerful, spinning hook kick that struck the side of his helmet, disorienting
him. I grabbed the barrel of his rifle, twisted it out of his grip, and used the stock of the weapon to strike him hard
in the midsection. He collapsed to his knees, gasping for air.
“Move! Go!” I shouted to Maya and Clara.
They bolted toward the back storeroom. The other two mercenaries spotted them and opened fire, their
bullets chewing through the wooden doorframe.
I grabbed the fallen mercenary’s tactical smoke grenade from his vest, pulled the pin, and threw it into the
center of the store. Within seconds, thick, billowing white smoke filled the entire space, completely blinding our
attackers.
I rushed into the storeroom just as a mercenary emerged from the side door, aiming a handgun at Maya.
With no time to think, I leaped forward, executing a flying knee strike to his chest. The impact threw him
backward through the heavy wooden door of the loading dock, and we both tumbled onto the rain-slicked asphalt
alleyway outside.
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He scrambled to his feet, pulling a combat knife from his belt. His eyes were cold, professional, and deadly.
He lunged, driving the blade toward my stomach. I stepped aside, parrying his wrist with my forearm, but the blade
grazed my shoulder, tearing through my shirt and drawing blood.
Ignoring the sharp sting of pain, I stepped inside his reach, grabbed his knife arm, and applied a brutal
shoulder lock. I twisted his arm behind his back and slammed him face-first into the metal side of our parked
burner car. The knife clattered to the wet pavement. I delivered a powerful elbow strike to the back of his neck,
knocking him unconscious.
“Elena! Get in!” Maya screamed, behind the wheel of the car. The engine was already roaring.
I threw myself into the passenger seat just as the third mercenary emerged from the alley, firing a volley of
shots at our vehicle. The bullets shattered the rear windshield, but Maya slammed her foot on the gas, sending the
car screaming out of the alley and onto the wet, winding coastal highway.
Clara was shaking in the back seat, clutching a first-aid kit she had grabbed from the store. “They... they
almost killed us.”
“But we survived,” I said, wincing as I pressed a clean cloth against my bleeding shoulder. “And now we
have the proof we need. They just committed an armed assault in broad daylight. The federal government can’t
ignore this.”
Maya looked at me in the rearview mirror, her face tense but determined. “I’ve already transmitted the raw
video of the attack, along with Clara’s official statement, to my supervisor in the federal prosecutor's office. They
are preparing emergency arrest warrants for Celeste and Adrian Cole for corporate espionage, attempted murder,
and racketeering.”
“But they still have the waterfront project,” I said, my voice hardening. “The city review board meets
tomorrow morning in New York to vote on the bids. If Celeste gets that contract, she’ll have the financial leverage
May you like
to fight these charges for years. We have to stop that project. We have to go back to New York.”
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