Chapter 4 - Ghost in the Machine"We have to go. Now."
Adrian rushed to the bed, pulling a combat knife from his chest rig to slice through the heavy leather restraints binding Scott’s wrists and ankles.
Scott groaned as he sat up, his muscles atrophied, his joints cracking in protest. "They’ve been pumping me full of a synthetic paralyzer. My legs... they're like lead, Adrian."
"I don't care if I have to carry you out of here on my back," Adrian said fiercely, hauling his brother up and wrapping Scott’s arm over his shoulder. The physical contact sent a jolt of electricity through Adrian. His brother was warm. He was real. The ghost he had mourned for eight years was breathing against him.
"Leo?" Scott asked, panic suddenly flaring in his eyes as he gripped Adrian's vest. "Did he make it?"
"He's safe. He's waiting for you."
Tears pooled in Scott’s eyes, but there was no time for emotion. A blaring siren suddenly ripped through the basement. Red strobe lights flashed furiously.
Intruder alert. Sub-level compromised. Lockdown initiated. The automated voice echoed through the PA system.
"Charles knows," Scott wheezed. "His private security monitors my vitals remotely. When my heart rate spiked, it tripped the alarm."
"Let them come," Adrian growled, his eyes burning with a dangerous light. He handed Scott a spare Glock 19 from his holster. "Do you remember how to shoot?"
Scott weighed the gun in his hand, a dark, familiar focus settling over his scarred face. "Like riding a bike."
They moved into the corridor. The elevator doors at the far end dinged, and three mercenaries poured out, raising automatic rifles.
"Cover!" Adrian shouted, shoving Scott behind a steel medical cart.
The narrow hallway erupted into deafening gunfire. Bullets sparked against the stone walls and shattered the overhead lights, plunging them into strobing darkness. Adrian leaned out from cover, firing three precise shots. Two mercs went down. The third ducked behind the elevator frame, pinning them down with suppressing fire.
"Marcus!" Adrian barked into his comms. "We are pinned in the basement corridor. I need a distraction."
"Copy that," Marcus's voice crackled. "Brace yourselves. Bringing down the main comms tower in three... two... one."
A massive explosion shook the foundation of the building. Dust and plaster rained down from the ceiling as the shockwave threw the remaining mercenary off balance. Scott didn't miss a beat; he leaned out and fired a single shot, dropping the man instantly.
"Nice shot, old man," Adrian grinned grimly.
They pushed forward, stepping over the bodies, and reached the stairwell. Scott was struggling, his breath coming in ragged gasps, but sheer willpower drove him upward. They burst through the ground-floor exit just as a fleet of black SUVs skidded onto the front lawn, headlights cutting through the driving rain.
Standing in the center of the downpour, flanked by ten heavily armed men, was Vance.
"Well, well," Vance shouted over the storm, holding a sleek assault rifle. "Mr. Whitmore. And Mr. Whitmore the First. Charles will be disappointed. He really wanted to keep the family together."
"Tell Charles I'm coming for his head," Adrian yelled back.
Vance raised his rifle. "Kill them."
Before a single trigger could be pulled, Marcus’s SUV roared out of the treeline. The reinforced steel bumper slammed into the side of Vance’s nearest vehicle, sending it flipping into the armed men like a bowling ball. Chaos erupted.
"Get in!" Marcus roared, throwing the passenger door open.
Adrian shoved Scott into the backseat and dove in after him, returning fire out the window. Bullets hailed against the bulletproof glass of the SUV as Marcus slammed it into reverse, spun the wheel in a dizzying J-turn, and tore down the gravel road.
Vance’s men scrambled to their remaining vehicles, but as they piled in, Marcus clicked a remote detonator on his dashboard. The C4 he had planted on the facility's main gates blew sky-high, collapsing the massive stone pillars and completely blocking the exit.
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In the back seat, Scott leaned his head against the window, watching the flames rise into the stormy sky. He looked at Adrian, his face pale but his eyes burning with a terrifying vengeance.
"Charles thought he buried me," Scott whispered. "Now we bury him."
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