Chapter 5 - Blood and Numbers
Roman collapsed against the base of an industrial meat processor, his teeth gritted in agony as blood pumped freely from beneath his torn coat. The bullet had passed clean through his deltoid, but the sheer shock of the impact left his left arm dangling uselessly at his side. He tried to raise his weapon with his right hand, but a second burst of fire forced him to roll behind the steel machinery.
Tommy, true to his spineless nature, crawled into a narrow drainage culvert, abandoning his sister and the ledger entirely.
Krasniqi stepped forward into the open bay, an assault rifle resting casually in his massive hands. ""It’s over, Cavali! Dante is dead at the gate! Your empire falls tonight! Give me the drive, and I might make the girl’s death quick!""
Bee crouched beside Roman, her hands shaking uncontrollably as she pressed her woolen scarf against the gaping wound in his shoulder. The warmth of his blood terrified her, but when Roman looked at her, his eyes were still burning with that stubborn, untamed fire.
""Take the bag,"" Roman whispered, his breath ragged, pressing the SIG Sauer into her trembling palms. ""The culvert... behind Tommy. It leads to the river runoff. Go, Beatrice. I will hold them.""
""Are you insane?"" Bee whispered fiercely, tears cutting tracks through the soot on her cheeks. ""You're bleeding out, your underboss is pinned down, and you have one working arm! You can't hold off an army with a heroic monologue!""
She looked at the laptop screen sticking out of her open tote bag. The external drive was still plugged into the USB port. The screen glowed faintly—the battery had one percent left, but the command terminal was still active. A forensic auditor didn't carry guns, but she understood systems. She understood that every modern industrial facility, especially one maintained by a paranoid mafia kingpin, ran on automated municipal controls.
""Roman,"" Bee hissed, grabbing his lapel. ""The fire suppression system. What is it connected to?""
Roman looked at her as if she had lost her mind. ""Industrial halon gas... for meat preservation... and overhead water reservoirs. The master valve is automated.""
""What’s the server IP?""
""Beatrice, this is not the time to balance the books!""
""Tell me the damn IP address, Cavali, or we both die right here!""
Roman stared at her, seeing the terrifying, brilliant spark behind her panic. He rattled off an eight-digit sequence.
Bee’s fingers flew across the keyboard with lightning speed, tapping into the local wireless network before the remaining power drained. She bypassed the security protocols using a backdoor admin exploit she had discovered during an audit of the city’s water district three months earlier. She didn't just open the valves—she routed the emergency fire purge directly through the industrial refrigeration lines.
""Krasniqi!"" Bee screamed, standing up suddenly from behind the steel processor, holding her dead laptop aloft like a weapon. ""You want the ledger? Come and get it!""
Krasniqi grinned, raising his rifle. ""Stupid girl.""
He squeezed the trigger just as Bee hit Enter.
Above their heads, twenty-four high-pressure valves exploded simultaneously. But instead of water, tons of pressurized liquid nitrogen and concentrated halon gas erupted from the ceiling pipes, creating an instantaneous blizzard of sub-zero fog and deafening thunder. The sudden drop in temperature and opaque chemical cloud blindfolded Krasniqi’s men in an instant. The blast blew Krasniqi’s rifle off target, sending his bullets whistling harmlessly into the rafters.
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""Now, Roman! Shoot!"" Bee screamed, diving back to the ground.
Roman didn't hesitate. Guided by the muzzle flashes in the dense white vapor, he fired four rapid, precision shots through the fog. Cries of agony cut through the hiss of the ruptured pipes. Krasniqi roared in pain, clutching his shattered kneecap as he collapsed into the freezing slush.
