Chapter 10 - Blood in the Suburbs
Clara reacted with split-second instinct, diving off the porch steps and pulling the wounded assistant down into the wet grass behind the brick retaining wall. Liam didn't hesitate. He locked Maisie inside the vehicle, slammed the door, and sprinted through the rain toward the porch, staying low. Another bullet zipped past his ear, chipping the brickwork behind him.
""Clara! Sophie!"" Liam hissed, sliding into the mud beside them. Sophie was trembling violently, her hands pressed against a gunshot wound in her lower abdomen.
""Julian’s hitman... he was already inside,"" Sophie gasped, her lips turning blue from shock and blood loss. ""He was looking for the hard drive... the offshore routing numbers...""
""Keep pressure on it!"" Clara ordered, tearing a strip from her sequined gown’s hem to pack the wound. She looked up at Liam, her eyes blazing with tactical focus. ""He’s using a suppressed pistol. He’s cornered inside the hallway. If we try to run to the car, he’ll shoot through the windows.""
Liam looked at the small house. He knew the layout of these suburban homes; they almost always had a side utility window leading straight into the basement. ""Cover me,"" Liam said, his voice deadly calm. ""Draw his fire to the front porch.""
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""Liam, no! It's too dangerous!"" Clara protested, but Liam was already moving, keeping low beneath the window line, slipping around the side of the house into the shadows of the overgrown hedge.
Clara fired two rapid shots through the front doorframe, forcing the gunman to duck and return fire into the front lawn. Taking advantage of the noise, Liam broke the small basement latch with a heavy garden stone and pulled himself through the narrow frame. He landed quietly on the concrete floor below, surrounded by old cardboard boxes and discarded tools. He grabbed a heavy steel crowbar resting against a workbench and moved up the wooden stairs toward the kitchen, his footsteps silent as a ghost.
