Chapter 5 - Blood in the Aspen Snow
Uuk descended the spiral staircase firing with lethal precision. For all his polished suits and boardroom manners, the moniker Snow Wolf had not been given out of courtesy. He moved with cold, predatory aggression, using the architecture of his own home to trap and eliminate two more contractors before reaching Elizabeth and Pilseong in the service corridor.
""Tunnel entrance is sixty feet down this hallway,"" Uuk said, breathing heavily, ejecting an empty magazine and slapping in his last fresh one. ""The blast doors will hold them for at least ten minutes.""
""They cut the power to the primary grid,"" Elizabeth observed, noticing the red emergency lights flickering erratically. ""That means the electronic lock on your blast door is running on auxiliary batteries. They'll have a hacker in their van overriding the bypass.""
She didn't wait for him to respond. Taking point, Elizabeth led the trio through the narrow, unadorned concrete corridor behind the mansion's lavish exterior. The sound of boots thudding behind them confirmed the remaining strike team was clearing the main hall and entering the service passage.
""Move, Han!"" Uuk ordered, taking the giant enforcer's other shoulder, half-carrying his massive subordinate down the hallway.
They reached the heavy steel vault door leading to the underground garage. Elizabeth punched the emergency bypass code Uuk rattled off. The heavy hydraulic bolts hissed open with agonizing slowness. Just as the gap widened enough for a person to squeeze through, the corridor behind them erupted in gunfire.
Uuk shoved Pilseong through the gap first. ""Go!""
Elizabeth fired covering bursts down the darkened hallway, suppressing the lead shooter. A round pinged sharply off the steel frame inches from her ear, the concussive force grazing her cheekbone and drawing a thin line of bright red blood. Uuk grabbed her tactical harness and yanked her backward into the garage, slamming his fist onto the manual seal lever. The three-inch-thick steel door slammed shut, and the heavy locking pins dropped into place with a deafening mechanical thud.
Bullets immediately began impacting the exterior steel like frantic hail, but the door held.
""You're hit,"" Uuk said, his hands immediately framing Elizabeth's face, his eyes dilated with terror as he saw the blood running down her pale cheek.
""It's a scratch, Jang. Calm down,"" she said, though her breath caught at the desperate tenderness in his hands. His thumbs gently wiped the blood from her skin, completely disregarding his own safety while the muffled sound of explosives echoed against the vault door behind them.
""I told you,"" Uuk whispered, his forehead pressing against hers for a brief, electric second in the dim garage light. ""I can't let anything happen to you.""
""If you two are done planning the reception,"" Pilseong groaned from the floor, leaning against the front bumper of a matte-black armored Land Cruiser, ""they brought thermal charges. That door isn't going to survive three minutes.""
Elizabeth pulled back, clearing her throat and breaking the spell between them. ""He's right. Load him into the back.""
The underground garage housed six luxury vehicles, but Uuk went straight to the reinforced SUV fitted with run-flat tires and bulletproof glass. Elizabeth took the wheel, turning the heavy ignition. The twin-turbo V8 engine roared to life with a deep, guttural growl.
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""The tunnel exits three miles down the mountain road behind the private ski lift,"" Uuk said, climbing into the passenger seat and racking his shotgun. ""From there, it's open wilderness until the highway.""
Elizabeth slammed the shifter into drive and floored the accelerator. The heavy SUV launched forward down the dark, sloping tunnel, its headlights piercing through the concrete darkness just as a massive concussive explosion blew the steel vault doors off their hinges behind them.
