Chapter 10 - POINT BLANK
Inside the shipping container, the air was cold, damp, and smelled of rust.
The sound of footsteps echoed loudly on the corrugated steel roof above their heads.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Eleanor’s men were taking positions on top of the container.
“Viktor, how did they find us so fast?” Ethan whispered urgently in the dark.
Viktor reached down and pulled a small black device out of his own coat lining.
The tiny red LED light on the device was blinking rapidly.
“They didn't track you, Ethan,” Viktor said grimly, looking down at the device.
“They tracked my vehicle.”
“I have a mole inside my own team.”
Before Ethan could digest the news, a heavy voice boomed through a megaphone outside the container.
“Ethan!” Eleanor’s voice echoed off the metal walls, clear and chillingly close.
“I know you’re in there!”
“You have three minutes to step out with the key and the girl!”
“If you don't, my men will drop tear gas canisters through the roof vents!”
“You will choke to death in the dark!”
Inside the container, the little girl began to cry hysterically, her small body trembling violently against Maria’s chest.
“Daddy... I’m scared,” she whimpered.
Ethan dropped to his knees and cupped his daughter’s cheeks in his hands.
“Look at me, sweetheart,” Ethan said softly, his voice full of unnatural calmness.
“I am not going to let anyone hurt you.”
“Do you remember the game we played in the garden?”
“The game where you hide until I count to ten?”
The child gave a small, tearful nod.
“I want you to hide behind these wooden crates with Maria,” Ethan instructed gently.
“Close your eyes, cover your ears, and do not make a sound until Daddy comes back to get you.”
Maria took the girl and pulled her deep into the back corner behind a stack of wooden pallets.
Ethan stood up and turned to Viktor.
“Give me a gun,” Ethan said, his voice flat and deadly.
Viktor pulled a heavy black pistol from his shoulder holster and handed it to Ethan along with an extra magazine.
“You know how to use this?” Viktor asked quietly.
“My father taught me,” Ethan replied, checking the chamber with practiced ease.
“Good,” Viktor whispered.
“Because when I open this door, we only have five seconds before they fire.”
Ethan took a deep breath, feeling his heart beat steady and slow.
The fear that had gripped him all night was completely gone.
It was replaced by a cold, sharp, unyielding rage.
“On three,” Viktor whispered, placing his hand on the heavy door latch.
“One...”
“Two...”
“Three!”
Viktor slammed the metal door open with all his force.
Bright floodlights from Eleanor’s tactical trucks blinded the interior of the container.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Ethan stepped straight out into the blinding light, firing three rapid shots at the nearest mercenary holding a spotlight.
The light shattered in a shower of glass, plunging the immediate area into chaotic shadows.
Viktor rolled out to the left, firing his weapon toward the sniper on the container roof.
A body crashed down onto the wet pavement with a heavy thud.
Ethan sprinted through the smoke, firing continuously as he moved toward Eleanor’s command vehicle.
Mercenaries scattered, taking cover behind concrete barricades and shooting back wildly.
Ethan slid behind the wheel of a heavy tactical truck, avoiding a hail of bullets.
Through the fog and gunsmoke, he spotted Eleanor standing near the edge of the pier, holding her radio.
She saw Ethan charging toward her through the chaos.
Her eyes widened in genuine shock as she realized he was no longer playing defense.
She drew her silver pistol, aiming it directly at Ethan’s head.
Ethan didn't duck.
He didn't take cover.
He walked straight toward her through the rain, his gun pointed directly at her chest.
They were five feet apart.
Two former lovers, now deadly enemies, standing face-to-face under the torrential rain.
“It’s over, Eleanor,” Ethan said, his voice cutting through the roar of the storm.
Eleanor smirked, her finger tightening on her trigger.
“You don't have the guts to pull that trigger, Ethan,” she whispered sneeringly.
“You’re just a civilian.”
CLICK.
Ethan’s gun clicked dry.
He was out of bullets.
May you like
Eleanor’s smile widened into a terrifying, triumphant grin.
“Goodbye, my love,” she said softly, raising her pistol to his forehead.
