Chapter 12
The water was pitch black, reflecting the distant, glittering lights of the Chicago skyline. The three Zodiac boats glided silently up the river, their powerful engines cut, riding the current toward the sprawling Greco compound built along the waterfront.
Raffaele stood at the bow of the lead boat, his dark eyes scanning the high stone walls of the estate. The compound was heavily fortified, bathed in harsh security lights, but Raffaele had analyzed the blueprints Victoria had sent to her brother. He knew every blind spot.
"There," Raffaele whispered, pointing to a dark, rusted drainage grate partially submerged in the river wall. "The old storm drain. It leads directly to the sub-basement of their main house."
The boats pulled silently alongside the stone wall. Two Marconi operatives slipped into the freezing water, using specialized hydraulic cutters to shear through the rusted iron bars of the grate. The metal gave way with a soft groan, creating an opening just large enough for a man to slip through.
Raffaele didn't wait for his men to secure the tunnel. He swung himself over the edge of the boat and dropped into the freezing, waist-deep water inside the storm drain. He waded silently through the pitch-black tunnel, his suppressed weapon raised, the elite strike team following closely behind him.
They emerged twenty minutes later in the dark, damp sub-basement of the Greco mansion.
"Thermal imaging shows forty hostiles on the ground floor, Boss," Vincent whispered, checking a handheld scanner. "They are barricaded in the main foyer and the living room, waiting for an attack from the front gates."
Raffaele smiled, a cold, lethal expression. "They are watching the wrong door."
He signaled his men to fan out. They moved up the concrete stairs with blinding, terrifying silence. Raffaele reached the heavy oak door leading to the kitchen and slowly turned the handle.
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Two Greco soldiers were standing by the refrigerators, smoking cigarettes and laughing, entirely oblivious to the apex predators stepping out of the shadows behind them.
Raffaele didn't hesitate. He raised his suppressed weapon and fired two flawless shots. The men dropped to the floor without making a single sound. The Marconi syndicate was officially inside the house.
