Chapter 2 - The Secrets Written in Blood and Rain
The gunshot tore through the heavy night air,
shattering the quiet of the storm.
Gideon’s bullet struck the tactical vest of the mercenary standing closest to Damian,
knocking the man off his feet into the muddy driveway.
Instantly,
the courtyard erupted into a chaotic storm of muzzle flashes and deafening gunfire.
Gideon dived behind a thick marble pillar on the porch,
bullets chipping away chunk after chunk of stone above his head.
His elite security guards,
positioned on the second-floor balconies,
returned fire with heavy automatic rifles.
Sparks flew off the hood of the armored SUVs as bullets ripped through steel and glass.
Damian cursed loudly,
scrambling behind the thick door of his lead vehicle while firing his sidearm blindly.
"Retreat! Fall back to the main gates!"
Damian screamed into his tactical radio,
realizing he had severely underestimated Gideon's defense.
Gideon leaned out from behind the pillar,
firing three precise shots that took down another mercenary attempting to flank the porch.
The remaining SUVs threw their gears into reverse,
tires screeching against the wet pavement as they backed out into the darkness.
Damian’s vehicle sped away,
leaving behind two dead mercenaries and one wounded soldier crawling in the mud.
Gideon stepped off the porch into the rain,
his guns held at his sides as he approached the surviving mercenary.
The man coughed up blood,
clutching a bullet wound in his shoulder while staring up at Gideon with absolute terror.
"Who sent you?"
Gideon demanded,
placing the warm barrel of his gun directly against the man's forehead.
"Viktor... Viktor Vance,"
the mercenary gasped,
his body shaking violently from pain and cold.
"He said... he said the girls had the ledger... the ledger that could destroy everything."
Gideon pulled his trigger without a second thought,
ending the man's life in an instant.
He turned on his heel,
walking back inside the mansion where Lucas was waiting with a fresh tactical squad.
"Sweep the grounds,"
Gideon ordered Lucas coldly.
"Check every perimeter fence,
clear the tree line,
and lock down the main estate."
"Right away,
boss,"
Lucas replied,
turning to direct his men out into the storm.
Gideon walked back down to his study,
sliding open the hidden bookcase to reveal the heavy titanium safe door.
He entered his private security code,
and the hydraulic locks hissed open,
revealing the small,
fortified room inside.
Clara was sitting on a leather couch,
holding a warm blanket around Lily,
who had finally fallen asleep from exhaustion.
Gideon stepped inside,
closing the heavy door behind him to seal out the noise of the storm.
He pulled up a wooden chair,
sitting directly across from the nine-year-old girl.
"The men outside are gone,"
Gideon said softly,
softening his tone as much as a mob boss could.
"You are safe here,
Clara."
Clara looked up,
her eyes red and swollen from crying,
yet filled with an intelligence far beyond her years.
"He won't stop,"
Clara whispered,
her hands trembling under the blanket.
"Viktor Vance won't stop until my sister and I are dead."
"Tell me why,"
Gideon said gently,
leaning forward.
"Tell me what you know about my daughter,
Ren."
Clara reached into the pocket of her soaked coat,
pulling out a small,
waterproof leather notebook bound with dark string.
"My father was Viktor Vance's private accountant,"
Clara explained,
her voice steadying slightly.
"Three weeks ago,
he overheard Viktor talking in his office about a plan called 'Project Sunflower'."
Gideon’s breath caught in his throat at the sound of the name.
"My father wrote down everything in this book,"
Clara continued,
holding the notebook out toward Gideon.
"Viktor paid a driver half a million dollars to run down your daughter on the street."
"Why?"
Gideon choked out,
the grief tearing through his chest like a rusty blade.
"Because your father had hidden a master security key to the city's international shipping docks,"
Clara revealed.
"Viktor knew that as long as you were happy and focused on your family,
you would never break."
"So he decided to break my spirit,"
Gideon whispered,
a dark,
unfathomable realization settling in his mind.
"He thought if you were broken by grief,
you would step down from the waterfront board,"
Clara said.
"And there's something else..."
Clara looked down at her sleeping sister before looking back into Gideon's eyes.
"Your daughter didn't die immediately on that road,"
Clara whispered softly.
"Viktor’s men took her to a secret medical center on the fourth floor of an abandoned meatpacking plant."
Gideon stood up so fast his chair crashed onto the floor.
"What did you just say?"
he bellowed,
his heart hammering violently against his ribs.
"They kept her alive for six hours,"
Clara sobbed,
tears streaming down her face.
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"They needed her blood to bypass the biometric lock your father created."
"And my sister Lily... she was in the room next to her."
