Chapter 7 - Blood in the Mist
The dawn didn't break; it bled through the heavy gray fog like a stain.
Four unmarked black vans turned off the coastal highway, their headlights cut, rolling silently up the gravel drive of the Hargrove estate before the perimeter guards even had time to raise their rifles.
Twelve men in tactical gear poured out of the vehicles, carrying suppressed submachine guns and breaching tools. They moved with professional, military-grade precision, fanning out toward the main house and the sprawling stable block.
Vince Salvatore stepped out of the lead van, a heavy revolver in his hand, his face twisted into an ugly, triumphant sneer.
"Burn the house if you have to," Salvatore muttered to his lead enforcer. "Just get me the girl. And make sure Hargrove watches it happen."
They kicked open the heavy oak side doors of the main house, expecting to find chaos.
Instead, they found absolute, terrifying silence.
The grand hallway was dimly lit by wall sconces. Not a servant was in sight. The crystal chandelier overhead cast long, eerie shadows across the polished marble floor.
"Spread out!" the enforcer barked, signaling four men toward the east wing.
As the four mercenaries stepped into the vaulted corridor leading to Mary's nursery, the floorboards above creaked.
Clack. Clack. Clack.
Heavy, measured footsteps echoed down the staircase.
They all froze, leveling their weapons upward.
Tristan stood on the landing halfway down the grand staircase. He wasn't wearing a suit. He wore a heavy tactical vest over a black hoodie, a customized Mossberg shotgun resting casually across his right shoulder. A cold, sardonic smile played across his lips.
"Boys," Tristan called out, his voice echoing off the marble. "You dropped something."
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"Kill him!" the lead mercenary screamed.
Before a single trigger could be pulled, the heavy iron chandelier above the foyer dropped with a deafening crash, plunging the hallway into sudden, violent darkness, punctuated only by the roaring thunder of Tristan's shotgun.
