Chapter 18 - The Fortress Catacombs
Three floors below, Rebecca was a wraith moving through the steam-filled utility tunnels.
She had used the acoustic breaching charge on the emergency drainage valve, blowing out the sub-level floodgates and slipping into the subterranean catacombs. Water swirled around her knees as emergency red sirens bathed the concrete walls in an apocalyptic glow.
Footsteps splashed rapidly from the junction ahead. Three private contractors in full tactical gear advanced in a wedge formation, flashlights slicing through the mist.
Rebecca didn't take cover; she took the initiative.
She stepped from the corridor alcove, the HK416 barking three suppressed double-taps. The lead operator went down instantly. The second swung his weapon up, but Rebecca closed the distance in a fraction of a second, deflecting the barrel with her forearm and driving the heel of her tactical boot through his knee. As he folded, she wrenched him into the line of fire of the third contractor, using him as a human shield.
Two rounds struck the fallen man's plate. Rebecca drew her sidearm from her tactical holster and fired over the shoulder of the shield, hitting the third shooter square in the chest rig, dropping him into the rushing water.
She dropped the spent magazine, slapped a fresh one in with the palm of her hand, and dragged the last operator against the wall by his tactical vest.
"The master study," she snarled, pressing the warm barrel beneath his jaw. "Which stairwell?"
The mercenary gasped for air through bloodied lips. "Tower... east lift... you're too late... Eleanor has her strapped to the ledger chair..."
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Rebecca didn't wait. A sharp palm strike to the temple rendered him unconscious. She sprinted toward the iron spiral staircase winding up into the belly of the manor.
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