Chapter 5 - Ambush in the Snow
The armored elevator descended silently into the reinforced concrete bunker beneath the mansion. When the doors slid open, Lev, a burly Ukrainian with scarred knuckles and a quiet demeanor, was already waiting with the passenger door of a midnight-black SUV open.
"Signora Bennett," Lev said respectfully, keeping his voice low so as not to startle the baby. "Mr. Moretti instructed me to take you directly north. We take the private shoreline route. No main avenues."
Isabella climbed into the leather interior, clutching Sophie against her chest as the heavy armored door slammed shut with the vault-like thud of solid steel. The vehicle surged forward into the underground tunnel, emerging several hundred yards away through a camouflaged garage disguised as an old boathouse along the icy shoreline.
Heavy snow was falling now, blanketing the Chicago streets in a blinding swirl of white. The windshield wipers swept rhythmically against the glass, but through the blizzard, Isabella noticed the faint red glow of taillights ahead.
Suddenly, Lev swore violently under his breath, stomping on the brakes. The heavy SUV skidded slightly on the icy asphalt before regaining traction. Across the two-lane coastal road, two black commercial vans had blocked the passage, their high beams blazing straight into their eyes.
Before Lev could throw the transmission into reverse, the rear doors of the vans burst open. Four men clad in tactical gear stepped out, raising automatic rifles.
"Get down on the floor!" Lev shouted, reaching for the submachine gun mounted under the steering column. "Stay below the glass, Signora! It's reinforced, but don't take chances!"
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Gunfire erupted like thunder, rounds hammering against the reinforced windshield and side panels with deafening cracks. The glass spiderwebbed with white fractures but held against the impact. Sophie began screaming at the top of her lungs, terrified by the violent noise. Isabella threw herself over her daughter, using her own body as a human shield, weeping uncontrollably as the smell of burning gunpowder and ozone seeped into the vents.
Lev threw the SUV into reverse, smashing backward into a guardrail to spin the vehicle around, but another sedan appeared from the darkness behind them, ramming violently into their rear bumper. They were boxed in. Trapped on an icy road with Lake Michigan’s frozen waves roaring just beyond the embankment.
