Part 35
The bedroom door was kicked off its hinges with a violent crash, wood splinters flying through the dark room.
A figure stepped through the threshold, the red laser sight of a tactical rifle sweeping across the bed, painting the sheets in a bloody crimson hue.
He didn't see me crouching behind the door.
As the operative stepped further into the room, his back turned to me for a fraction of a second, I lunged forward with everything I had.
I drove a heavy ceramic mug I had grabbed from the kitchen table straight into the side of his helmet, the impact shattering the mug and disorienting him.
Before he could recover, I grabbed the barrel of his rifle, forcing it upward as he fired a wild burst into the ceiling.
The muzzle flash illuminated his masked face, his eyes wide with shock that a civilian woman was fighting back with such ferocity.
I slammed my knee into his groin, then used his own momentum to drive his head backward into the sharp edge of the doorframe.
He went limp, his rifle slipping from his hands as he collapsed into a heavy heap on the floor.
I didn't waste a single heartbeat. I snatched the rifle from his hands, checking the magazine by feel, and scooped up two spare magazines from his tactical vest.
"Elena, come," I whispered harshly, reaching under the dresser and pulling her out.
She was crying silently now, tears streaming down her pale face, but she trusted me implicitly.
I looked into the hallway. Agent Vance was lying near the kitchen, a dark pool of blood expanding beneath her torso, her breathing shallow and ragged.
She looked up at me, her eyes glassy, raising a trembling hand to point toward the back exit of the safehouse.
"Go..." she choked out, her voice barely a wheeze. "They... they bought the network... no one is coming..."
I wanted to help her, to apply pressure to the wound, but a heavy shadow appeared at the end of the hallway.
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I raised the captured rifle, squeezed the trigger, and fired a precise three-round burst that dropped the second operative instantly.
There was no time to save anyone else. I had to get my daughter out of this slaughterhouse.
