Chapter 9 - The Prison Convoy Ambush
Before Nico could pull the assassin back over the ledge, a distant explosion echoed across the Hudson River from the direction of the Queens Detention Complex.
A massive plume of black smoke and orange fire rose into the stormy night sky.
Rafe burst onto the rooftop, gasping for breath. "Nico! News just broke on police frequencies! Marcella's transport convoy was hit on the Queensboro Bridge by heavily armed mercenaries using RPGs!"
Nico hauled the terrified assassin over the ledge and slammed him unconscious onto the roof with a single strike. "Rostov isn't letting her go to trial. If Marcella talks to federal prosecutors, Rostov's entire North American trafficking ring gets exposed."
"Are they trying to rescue her or execute her?" Rafe asked, checking his weapon.
"Both," Nico replied grimly, wiping the rain from his eyes. "They'll use her to unlock the offshore accounts, then put a bullet in her head. We need to reach that bridge before Rostov's gunners slip into the harbor."
Ten minutes later, their armored SUV was barreling up the access ramp to the Queensboro Bridge.
The scene on the upper deck was an absolute war zone. Two overturned police cruisers were burning fiercely, sending thick, toxic smoke swirling through the steel girders. Four armed cartel mercenaries in black tactical gear were laying down suppressive fire against the surviving state troopers, while a heavy armored transport van was being cut open with an industrial thermal torch.
Inside the back of the smoking van, Marcella was huddled in the corner in orange prison scrubs, screaming hysterically as sparks rained down around her.
"Hold on!" Nico yelled, slamming the accelerator to the floor.
The heavy Mercedes rammed straight into the side of the cartel's getaway SUV, crushing the rear axle and sending two mercenaries sprawling across the wet asphalt.
Nico kicked his door open, firing three controlled shots through the windshield of the cartel truck, neutralizing the lead gunner. Rafe stepped out with the MPX, unleashing a blistering burst of suppressive fire that pinned the remaining shooters behind the bridge railings.
Nico charged through the smoke, pulling a shotgun from his trunk. He leveled it at the mercenary holding the thermal torch and fired. The man dropped instantly.
Nico reached through the melted steel doors of the prison van, grabbed Marcella by the scruff of her neck, and yanked her out onto the bloodstained bridge.
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Marcella looked up at Nico, her face smeared with soot, crying tears of sheer terror. "Nico... they were going to kill me! Rostov wants the drive!"
"Shut up and run!" Nico shouted, shoving her toward their armored car just as a heavy machine gun opened fire from a black speedboat cruising below the bridge on the East River.
