CHAPTER 3 — THE GUNFIGHT ON HARROVE STREET
CHAPTER 3 — THE GUNFIGHT ON HARROVE STREET
Glass exploded across the sidewalk.
The first bullet wasn't aimed at Connor.
It was aimed at Sarah.
Connor saw the flash a fraction of a second before the report echoed down Harrove Street. Instinct took over. He grabbed Sarah by the shoulder and threw both her and Gracie behind the thick concrete planter outside the market.
The bullet slammed into the brick wall where Sarah's head had been.
"Stay down!" Connor barked.
Gracie screamed as shattered glass rained around them.
The men with the teddy bear and flowers dropped the act instantly. Both drew suppressed pistols from inside their coats while the SUVs screeched to a halt. Doors burst open.
Armed men poured onto the sidewalk.
Pedestrians scattered in every direction.
Connor reached beneath his coat and drew his customized SIG Sauer.
One precise shot.
The gunman closest to Sarah collapsed before he fired a second round.
Another attacker charged from the left.
Connor fired twice.
The man spun backward into the hood of a parked car.
Inside the market, customers dove behind shelves as alarms began screaming.
Eddie, the cashier, grabbed an elderly woman and pulled her behind the checkout counter.
Outside, the firefight intensified.
Connor wasn't simply shooting.
He was controlling the battlefield.
Every movement forced Daniel's men farther away from Sarah and Gracie.
Three black SUVs boxed in both ends of the street.
This wasn't intimidation.
It was an abduction team.
Connor understood immediately.
Daniel hadn't sent men to kill Sarah.
He wanted her alive.
And he wanted Gracie.
That realization chilled him more than the bullets.
Across the street, a sniper lifted his rifle from inside an abandoned office window.
Connor caught the reflection of sunlight against the scope.
"Down!"
He tackled Sarah just as the rifle fired.
The round shattered the market sign above them.
Wood and metal crashed onto the sidewalk.
Connor pressed a hand to his earpiece.
"Vincent."
"I'm here."
"Sniper. Northeast building. Fourth floor."
"Already marked."
Seconds later, another rifle cracked.
The sniper disappeared from the window.
Vincent's team had arrived.
Black SUVs bearing the Malone crest roared onto Harrove Street from both directions.
Connor's security detail moved with military precision.
Within moments, the attackers found themselves trapped instead.
Gunfire erupted from both sides.
The street became chaos.
One of Daniel's men grabbed Gracie by the backpack as she tried to help her mother.
The little girl screamed.
Connor turned.
Time slowed.
The gunman dragged Gracie toward an SUV.
Connor sprinted.
Ignoring the bullets slicing through the air, he crashed into the man with enough force to send both of them through the windshield of a parked sedan.
The attacker raised his pistol.
Connor caught his wrist.
The gun fired harmlessly into the roof of the car.
Connor broke the man's arm with one brutal twist.
Then struck once.
The man stopped moving.
Connor immediately picked Gracie up.
She buried her face against his shoulder, trembling violently.
"I've got you."
"I'm sorry..." she sobbed.
"I dropped the bananas."
Connor looked toward the torn grocery bag lying in the street.
The bananas had rolled into the gutter.
His chest tightened.
A six-year-old surrounded by bullets...
...was apologizing for fruit.
"No, sweetheart."
He held her tighter.
"You didn't lose anything."
Just then, every attack stopped.
The surviving gunmen retreated simultaneously.
Too organized.
Too disciplined.
Connor knew what that meant.
This had only been a test.
As the last SUV sped away, one of the attackers tossed a small envelope onto the pavement.
Connor picked it up.
Inside was a single photograph.
Sarah.
Gracie.
Taken yesterday outside their apartment.
Across the bottom, written in black ink:
YOU CAN'T PROTECT THEM FOREVER.
On the back was another message.
YOU SHOULD HAVE KILLED ME FOUR YEARS AGO.
Connor folded the photograph slowly.
There would be no negotiations.
May you like
No warnings.
Only war.
