Chapter 12 - Fire in the Nave
The shockwave from the blast rocked the church cellar, raining centuries-old mortar and dust from the vaulted stone ceiling.
Frank had detonated an emergency breaching charge against the outer wall, collapsing the main entrance and triggering the building’s old industrial fire-suppression alarms. Klaxons screamed through the dark, and emergency sirens began echoing in the distance across the harbor.
The sudden blast caught Miller’s men off guard. In the split second of confusion, Marcus flipped the heavy wooden communion table forward, sending it crashing into the two forward mercenaries and creating an instant barrier.
Muzzle flashes strobed through the cellar. Marcus scooped Lily up with one arm, drew his sidearm with the other, and returned two rapid rounds, dropping the operative to Miller’s left.
“Grab the papers!” Miller roared through the ringing dust, diving behind a stone archway.
Nathan Cross lunged across the floor, sweeping the waterproof packet into his coat just as a burst of bullets pulverized the stone floor where he had been sitting.
“The bell tower stairs!” Nathan shouted, coughing against the thick gray smoke pouring down from the burning floor above. “There’s a reinforced emergency fire exit leading to the roof!”
Marcus fired twice more to pin Miller behind the pillar, then grabbed Nathan by the collar, hauling the older man toward the narrow spiral staircase behind the altar.
They bounded up the spiral stone stairs, the sound of boots and curses pursuing them from below. Smoke billowed down from the upper nave, turning the air into an acrid, choking fog.
Marcus kicked open the heavy iron door leading out onto the bell tower catwalk, forty feet above the street. Rain lashed against their faces as they emerged into the stormy night.
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Below them in the alleyway, three black SUVs screeched to a halt, boxing in Frank’s pickup.
And stepping out of the lead vehicle, holding an umbrella in the pouring rain, was Victoria Sterling herself.
