Chapter 14 - The Ambush
The rain turned into a torrential downpour as night fell over Chicago. Alessandro, dressed in heavy black tactical gear, sat in the back of an armored SUV. Marco and four of his most trusted, highly trained private contractors were with him. They carried suppressed automatic weapons, a stark contrast to the legal briefcases they had been using for the past month.
Their target was a shipping yard on the South Side, Lorenzo's last known stronghold. Alessandro’s intelligence network, a blend of corporate hacking and old-street whispers, had pinpointed Lorenzo’s location.
"We go in fast," Alessandro instructed the men, his voice cutting through the hum of the engine. "We neutralize the guards, but Lorenzo is mine. We take him alive, extract him to a secure location, and ensure he never sees the sun again."
He was still trying to keep his promise to Sophia. He wouldn't execute the man in cold blood if he didn't have to. He would make him disappear, lock him away in a dark hole where he could never threaten them again.
The SUV cut its lights as it approached the rusted gates of the shipping yard. The perimeter was unnervingly quiet. No guards patrolling the fences, no movement in the shadows.
"Something is wrong," Marco whispered, raising his thermal scanner. "It’s too quiet."
As the vehicles rolled into the center of the yard, surrounded by towering, labyrinth-like stacks of metal shipping containers, blinding floodlights suddenly snapped on, illuminating the convoy like daylight.
Before Alessandro could issue a command, heavy machine-gun fire erupted from the tops of the containers.
"Ambush!" Marco roared over the deafening sound of bullets tearing into the armored glass. "Return fire! Get us out of the kill zone!"
The drivers threw the SUVs into reverse, tires spinning wildly on the wet gravel, but a massive semi-truck suddenly blocked the exit gate. They were trapped.
Alessandro kicked his door open, using the armored frame as a shield, and raised his rifle. He fired precise, controlled bursts into the floodlights, plunging the yard back into darkness.
"Move to the containers! Break their line of sight!" Alessandro ordered, providing covering fire as his men bailed out of the ruined vehicles.
They fought their way through the maze of metal, taking down Lorenzo’s gunmen in brutal, close-quarters combat. The years of corporate life hadn't dulled Alessandro’s instincts; if anything, the desperate need to return to Sophia and Emma made him deadlier than ever.
As they cleared a path toward the main office, a horrifying realization hit Alessandro. The gunmen weren't trying to kill them; they were trying to pin them down. They were stalling.
Alessandro grabbed one of Lorenzo’s wounded men by the tactical vest, slamming him against a shipping container.
"Where is Lorenzo?" Alessandro roared over the gunfire.
The man coughed, a bloody smile spreading across his face. "He’s not here, Moretti. He never was. He knew you'd come looking for him."
The blood froze in Alessandro’s veins.
"If he's not here..." Marco started, his eyes widening in terror.
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"He's at the estate," Alessandro finished, a sound of pure, unadulterated panic escaping his throat.
Lorenzo had used himself as bait to draw the wolf out of the den. And he had left the estate completely vulnerable.
