Chapter 6 - Blood on Cold Steel
The first guard died before the sound of his falling body even registered with the others.
High up on the catwalk, a lookout was quietly surveying the ground floor when a gloved hand reached through the iron railing, clamped firmly over his mouth, and drove four inches of steel directly between his cervical vertebrae. Mateo caught the falling rifle with his free hand, setting the corpse down without a whisper.
Julian stood by the chair, checking his platinum wristwatch. ""He’s late. Maybe he decided you weren't worth the trouble after all, Clara.""
""He's not late,"" Mateo's voice dropped from the rafters, crisp and devoid of fear.
Before Julian’s men could react, Mateo dropped a flashbang into the center of the warehouse floor. A blinding burst of white light and a concussive boom shattered the silence. The mercenaries shouted in panic, their night-vision optics overloading, firing blindly into the air.
Mateo dropped from a secondary beam like an avenging ghost. Landing in a crouch, he fired three rhythmic shots. Two men crumpled instantly, bullets finding their marks in the center of their chests. Rolling behind a forklift, Mateo popped up on the opposite side, picking off a third sniper positioned on the scaffolding.
""Kill him! Kill the bastard!"" Julian shrieked, ducking behind Clara’s chair and drawing his own chrome-plated pistol, using her body as a human shield.
The remaining two guards laid down suppressing fire toward the forklift, bullets chewing through the heavy metal and sending bright orange sparks showering onto the damp concrete. Clara screamed as ricochets whined dangerously close to her head.
""Mateo!"" she cried out.
""Don't move, Clara!"" Mateo barked back.
He unclipped a smoke grenade from his belt and rolled it across the floor. Thick, chemical white smoke blossomed outward, swallowing the center of the warehouse. The gunfire stuttered as the gunmen lost their target. In the blinding mist, shadows shifted. Bones snapped. A muffled groan cut short.
When the smoke began to thin, Julian found himself alone, his two bodyguards lying motionless in the dirt. Panicked, he pressed the barrel of his gun against Clara's temple.
""Show yourself, Cruz! One step and I blow her brains out!"" Julian screamed into the haze.
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A shadow materialized five paces away. Mateo stood tall, his gun lowered at his side, his face smeared with soot and blood. But his eyes were terrifyingly empty.
""You won't shoot her, Julian,"" Mateo said calmly. ""Because without her, you have nothing to bargain for your life.""
