Page 331 of Eight of Swords, Part Two

‘They… they had s-someone on the inside,’ Rook croaks.

‘What did you see?’

‘Nothing. Blindsided us. Power went o-out, backups stayed off. No warning, nothing. Four people came inside. I didn’t see who, but… this was an inside job. No doubt.’

Lachlan grips his shoulder, hands him a med-kit. ‘I’ll be back.’

Freshly armed, Lachlan steps into the corridor.

The alarm screams.

He follows his instincts.

A man approaching from the western gallery.

Lachlan fires. The man drops. Another moves behind him.

Lachlan puts two rounds through the wall where his shadow gave him away. The body strikes the other side hard enough to shake a painting loose. The drug is still inside him, but fear has burned through most of its weight. His balance stabilises. His vision narrows.

Focus Mode finally locks into place.

He cuts through the gallery towards the central stairs.

A rifle appears around the corner.

Lachlan catches it, drags the shooter out and drives his knife beneath the man’s plate carrier. The blade finds the soft gap above his hip. Lachlan catches his hair, pulls his head back and opens his throat.

Boots hammer across the floor above.

He leaves the body bleeding into the carpet and takes the service stairs two at a time. A fourth man fires down at him, poor aim, a wild burst.

Lachlan has no such deficiency.

He fires two shots.

The body falls down the stairs.

Lachlan steps over it.

‘JULES! MIMI!’

Gunfire answers from the north side of the house.

He follows it.

The Estate is in pieces around him.

Broken glass, dead tech, doors jammed.

He sees a few of his own people, but they’re not dead.

Mostly knocked out.

He doesn’t stop for them either.

A masked attacker breaks from the music room and runs.

Lachlan shoots him through the calf.