Chapter 8 - The Cabin in the Woods
The northern woods of Wisconsin were quiet, covered in a light blanket of afternoon mist.
Vincent’s black Eurocopter landed silently in a clearing three miles away from the secluded cabin to avoid alerting anyone in the area. Vincent, Tony, and four elite tactical operators walked through the thick pine forest, holding silenced carbines.
The cabin was a modest, single-story wooden structure sitting on the edge of a serene, dark lake. Wooden swan decoys sat rusted near a rotting wooden dock—just as Sophie had drawn.
"Perimeter is clean," one of the operators whispered, lowering his night-vision scope. "No signs of tracks or recent entry."
"Move in," Vincent ordered.
They breached the front door quietly. The inside of the cabin was frozen in time—dust covered the small kitchen, old fishing rods leaned against the wall, and family photos of Carlos, Elena, and baby Sophie hung on the wooden mantle above a stone fireplace.
"Search every inch," Vincent said. "Floorboards, chimney, hollow furniture."
For twenty minutes, the team tore the cabin apart carefully. They checked behind walls, inside hollowed-out books, under floor tiles. Nothing.
Vincent stood in front of the stone fireplace, staring at a framed photograph of Carlos holding baby Sophie on his shoulders. In the background of the photo, Carlos was leaning against a large carved wooden bear sitting in the corner of the porch.
Vincent walked out to the front porch. The carved wooden bear, five feet tall and weathered by winter storms, sat near the railing.
Vincent knelt beside the bear. He felt around its wooden base. Near the left paw, he felt a small, smooth seam in the wood.
He pulled his pocket knife, jammed the blade into the seam, and popped open a hidden wooden compartment inside the bear's leg.
Inside sat a small, heavy black metal case wrapped in waterproof plastic.
Vincent pulled it out, opened the latch, and picked up a sleek, metallic silver flash drive stamped with an encrypted serial code.
"We got it," Vincent said, holding up the drive.
Before Tony could reply, a sudden, blinding light flashed from the tree line across the clearing.
BOOM!
A heavy sniper round tore through the porch railing, missing Vincent’s head by inches and splintering the wooden beam behind him.
"Ambush!" Tony screamed, tackling Vincent behind the thick stone base of the fireplace as a hail of gunfire erupted from the surrounding forest.
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Out of the mist stepped thirty armed men in tactical gear, surrounding the cabin from every direction. And leading them, holding an assault rifle and wearing a bulletproof vest, was Victor Vane himself.
"Vincent Torino!" Victor’s roaring laugh echoed through the trees. "Did you really think I didn't have a tracker on your chopper?! Thanks for finding my ledger, you old bastard! Now hand it over, or you die in those woods!"
