Chapter 6 - The Ice Palace Siege
The snow fell in thick, blinding sheets over the desolate Russian taiga, burying the Volkov Bratva estate in a silent, freezing white shroud.
Parked three miles down the hidden logging road, the matte-black transport van hummed quietly in the sub-zero temperatures.
Inside the van, the atmosphere was thick with tension. Lorenzo double-checked his night-vision optics, his heart pounding with a mixture of cold fury and raw anxiety. He looked across the dashboard at his five daughters, who were busy strapping miniature tactical helmets over their dark hair.
"Final check," Maya whispered into her comms mic, her voice eerily calm. "Zoe, status on the perimeter cameras?"
"Looping on a three-minute playback delay," Zoe replied from the back seat, tapping furiously on her tablet. "Guards won't notice a thing until we're inside the main vault."
"Chloe, Mia, thermal scanners?"
"Clear," Mia responded. "Dmitri is currently in the underground interrogation wing with Mother. Six guards stationed outside his primary study."
Lorenzo looked at them, a knot tightening in his chest. "I’m going in first. You stay here in the van."
"Negative, Father," Maya said, sliding a sleek, customized tactical crossbow from her backpack and clicking a poisoned dart into place. "We didn't cross an ocean to sit in a van while you get shot at. Besides, you need our decryption algorithms to bypass Volkov's biometric vault doors."
Before Lorenzo could argue, Maya hit the side door release, slipping out into the freezing snow with the stealth of a shadow. The other four girls followed instantly, melting into the winter darkness like phantoms.
May you like
Cursing under his breath, Lorenzo grabbed his rifle and sprinted out behind them into the blizzard.
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