Chapter 8 - The Trap Springs
Bullets whistled through the cedar walls of the boathouse. Adrian pulled Clara down behind a heavy oak workbench, returning fire with brutal precision through the shattered window. Two of Victor’s guards crumpled to the ground outside.
“Daniel! Cover the dock!” Adrian barked over the deafening noise.
“Boss, they’ve cut off our land route to the SUVs!” Daniel called back, firing his submachine gun toward the tree line. “There are at least a dozen of them!”
Adrian glanced at the wooden speedboat floating in the slip beside them. “Can you start this boat, Clara?”
“It’s Julian’s old boat—yes! The key is always hidden in the ignition box!” Clara yelled back, scrambling into the vessel. She reached into the compartment, found the key, and turned it. The powerful V8 engine roared to life with a deep, throaty rumble.
“Get in!” Adrian commanded his men.
Daniel and the two operatives leapt onto the deck just as Victor’s men kicked open the main boathouse doors. Adrian fired three final shots to suppress the shooters, then jumped onto the boat as Clara slammed the throttle forward.
The boat surged out through the wooden doors, shattering the wooden sea gates and launching into the open, dark waters of Geneva Lake just as heavy automatic fire ripped through the water behind them.
Clara steered the boat skillfully through the darkness, navigating toward a remote public dock four miles away where a secondary transport team was waiting.
“Are you hit?” Adrian asked, crouching beside her at the helm, his hand resting reassuringly on her shoulder.
“I’m fine,” she breathed, her cheeks flushed with adrenaline. She looked at the binder secured in her jacket. “We have it. Everything is in here. Victor’s entire empire can be dismantled in twenty-four hours.”
Adrian looked at her, seeing for the first time not just a desperate mother or a helpless domestic worker, but a woman of immense courage and resilience.
“You did well, Clara,” he said, his voice unusually gentle.
When they reached the opposite shore, Adrian’s backup team was waiting with fresh vehicles. They boarded quickly, heading back toward Chicago under the cover of early morning fog.
However, as they entered the city limits at 5:30 AM, Adrian’s phone chimed with an urgent video call from Dr. Michael Grant.
Adrian answered instantly. “Michael, report.”
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The video showed Michael standing in the estate’s bunker, looking bruised and bloody. Behind him, the security room was completely torn apart.
“Adrian...” Michael gasped, holding his side. “It was Marcus... he didn't leave the estate... he was hiding in the maintenance sub-tunnels. He... he took Lily.”
