Chapter 6 - The Guardian in the Dark
The power inside the mansion suddenly died.
The grand crystal chandeliers flickered out, plunging the immense estate into pitch-black darkness, save for the flashes of lightning piercing through the high windows.
The backup generators failed to kick in—the Moretti strike team had cut the external power lines.
In the dark, Hunter pulled out her small torch, casting a narrow beam of yellow light across the marble floor.
TAK-ATAK-ATAK!
The sounds of heavy gunfire outside were getting closer. The security team was fighting fiercely at the front gates, but two Moretti assassins had managed to scale the high stone walls on the east side of the estate, slipping past the guard posts in the dark storm.
Hunter sprinted up the grand staircase, taking three steps at a time.
She burst into the third-floor nursery.
Leo was screaming in his crib, terrified by the dark, the loud explosions outside, and the sudden drop in temperature inside the house.
Hunter rushed to the crib, scooping the baby up into her arms, holding him tightly against her chest, whispering frantically into his warm neck.
"I'm here, baby, I'm here," Hunter whimpered, her body trembling with adrenaline. "I won't let them touch you."
CREAK.
A floorboard groaned in the hallway outside the nursery door.
Hunter went dead silent. She cut off her torch beam, throwing the room back into total darkness.
She backed away from the crib, retreating toward the small, private bathroom connected to the nursery. She stepped inside, pulling the heavy oak door almost shut, leaving only a tiny crack to see through.
Through the crack, Hunter saw a tall shadow slip into the dark nursery.
The man was wearing a black tactical raincoat, holding a suppressed submachine gun. The red laser sight from his weapon swept across the room, illuminating the empty mahogany crib.
The assassin stepped closer to the crib, realizing the baby was gone. He swore under his breath in Italian, turning his head toward the bathroom door.
Hunter held her breath. Her hands tightened around Leo, pressing his face softly against her shoulder so his cries were muffled by her wet sweater.
The assassin took three slow steps toward the bathroom.
Step.
Step.
Step.
Hunter looked around the dark bathroom. There were no guns. No weapons.
Her hand touched a heavy, decorative marble soap dish sitting on the vanity counter.
She picked it up. It weighed at least four pounds.
The bathroom door was slowly pushed open. The red laser beam swept across the mirror, then moved down toward the floor where Hunter was hiding behind the door frame.
The assassin stepped into the bathroom, raising his submachine gun.
With a fierce, primal scream of a mother protecting her child, Hunter swung the heavy marble soap dish with all her strength.
CRACK!
The marble dish struck the assassin directly across the side of his jaw.
The man groaned, his head snapping back, his submachine gun slipping from his wet gloves and clattering against the tiled floor. He stumbled backward into the nursery, crashing heavily into a wooden changing table.
Hunter didn't stop.
She kicked the dropped submachine gun far under the master bed out of reach, then grabbed a heavy bronze floor lamp, swinging it like a bat.
THWACK!
The bronze base struck the assassin across his temple. He collapsed onto the Turkish rug, motionless, knocked completely unconscious.
Hunter stood over the fallen killer, her chest heaving, holding the bronze lamp in two hands, tears streaming down her dusty, wet face.
In her arm, Leo let out a soft, tiny whimpering sound.
Hunter dropped the lamp, dropping to her knees on the rug, pulling Leo close to her face, checking every inch of his body.
"Are you okay, baby?" she sobbed, kissing his forehead over and over again. "Are you okay?"
Leo looked up at her through the dark, reaching his tiny hand out, gently touching Hunter’s wet cheek.
Suddenly, heavy, rapid footsteps bounded up the grand staircase outside.
May you like
"HUNTER!" a voice roared through the dark corridors.
It was Lorenzo.
