Chapter 16 - THE AMBUSH AT MILE MARKER 42
At 3:00 AM, the sound of breaking glass shattered the motel’s silence.
Daniel had not slept. He had been sitting in the dark chair facing the door, a Colt .45 resting across his knee. When the bathroom window shattered at the rear of the cabin, he didn't hesitate. He scooped Lily up with his left arm, drawing the heavy curtains aside with his right.
Two men in black tactical gear breached the bathroom door, suppressed pistols raised.
*Crack! Crack!*
Daniel fired twice through the drywall. The high-caliber rounds punched through the plaster, catching the first intruder in the shoulder and sending him sprawling backward into the broken porcelain. The second gunman sprayed the bedroom wall with suppressed submachine-gun fire, drywall dust erupting like snow.
"Run to the truck!" Daniel roared, throwing Lily out through the side fire door into the pouring rain.
Daniel lunged forward, tackling the second gunman before he could re-aim. They crashed into the nightstand, lamps and mirrors shattering around them. The operative was skilled, trained in close-quarters combat, but Daniel fought with the unhinged, merciless savagery of a father whose cub was in the crosshairs. He slammed his forearm into the man's throat, stripped the tactical weapon from his grip, and drove the butt of the rifle into his temple.
The operative collapsed, unconscious.
Daniel ripped the radio comms unit from the man’s tactical vest. Through the static, a crisp, aristocratic voice was speaking:
*"Unit Two, report. Confirm the package is secured. Sterling wants the father eliminated on-site."*
May you like
Daniel keyed the mic. "Tell Sterling I'm coming for his throat."
He dropped the radio, sprinted out into the torrential rain, and vaulted into the driver's seat of the truck. Lily was curled beneath the dash, shaking violently. Daniel threw the truck into reverse, smashed through the wooden fence of the motel parking lot, and vanished into the highway storm.
