Chapter 9 - The Final Stand at the Gates
By 4:00 a.m., the rain had stopped, leaving a heavy, cold fog hanging over the Cicero safehouse. Marco stood by the window, his rifle raised, his eyes scanning the tree line.
Sophia was asleep on the sofa, her small hand resting on the strap of her pink backpack.
Suddenly, the sound of a vehicle approaching broke the silence. A single car—not a tactical SUV, but a battered delivery van—pulled into the driveway.
The driver's door opened, and Vincent Caruso stepped out. He was pale, his left arm hanging slightly stiff at his side, but his eyes were bright with a dangerous, terminal fire.
Marco opened the door, letting him in. "Boss. You're bleeding."
"I've had worse," Vincent said, walking straight to the kitchen table. He looked down at Sophia, his expression softening for a brief second before he turned back to his lieutenant. "Miller is coming. He tracked the sedan’s registration. We have ten minutes."
"What about the judge?" Marco asked.
"Vance signed the order," Vincent said, pulling a folded, stamped document from his pocket. "It's a federal injunction freezing all assets of Vanguard Systems pending a grand jury investigation. But Miller doesn't care about the law anymore. He knows if he doesn't get that bag tonight, he's a dead man anyway."
The sound of tires crunching on gravel echoed from the front yard.
Vincent drew his spare weapon from the back of his belt, handing it to Marco. "Take the girl into the basement. Lock the hatch."
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"Vincent—"
"Go, Marco," Vincent said, his voice dropping into a quiet, absolute command. "This isn't about the business anymore. This is about the one good thing we've done in ten years."
