Chapter 7 - Blood and FireBLAM!
A gunshot tore through the fog, but it didn't come from Helena’s gun.
Helena gasped as a high-caliber sniper bullet struck her shoulder, throwing her off balance and forcing her to drop the firearm. Sparks flew as automatic gunfire erupted from the tops of the shipping containers.
"Covering fire! Move, boss, move!"
Hadrian’s private tactical team—whom he had deployed to flank the pier twenty minutes prior using underwater rebreathers—scrambled down from the container roofs, engaging Helena’s mercenaries in a chaotic, close-quarters firefight.
Hadrian grabbed Sorrel, ducking behind a heavy steel forklift as bullets chewed through the wooden pallets around them.
"Sorrel, stay down!" Hadrian commanded, pulling a secondary sidearm from his ankle holster. He popped out from behind the cover, firing three controlled shots that dropped two advancing mercenaries.
Through the muzzle flashes and smoke, Hadrian saw Helena dragging the briefcase toward an offshore speedboat docked at the edge of the pier. Blood was pouring from her shoulder, but her face was twisted in manic determination.
"She’s getting away with the keys!" his tactical leader shouted over the radio noise. "If she uploads those codes to the offshore server, the global grid goes down!"
Hadrian looked down at Sorrel, who was huddling beneath the forklift, her eyes wide with terror.
"Daddy has to finish this," Hadrian told her, touching her cheek gently. "Stay here. Press this button on your watch if anyone comes near you. Do you understand?"
Sorrel grabbed his hand tight. "Don't leave me, Daddy!"
"I am never leaving you again," Hadrian promised, kissing her forehead. He broke away, charging into the rain and smoke toward the speedboat.
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Helena was scrambling onto the boat’s deck, throwing the briefcase into the cabin. She reached for the ignition switch, but Hadrian leaped across the gap between the pier and the boat, slamming into her with full force.
Both of them crashed onto the fiberglass deck as the engine roared to life, sending the boat shooting out into the rough open waters of the harbor.
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