Chapter 150: Incendiary Bomb

Chapter 150: Incendiary Bomb

"Take the brass box. We're leaving this hellhole right now — we'll plan our next move back at the office."

Penelope issued the order in a cold, flat tone, then turned and headed for the pawnshop's battered wooden door.

Dominic immediately bent down, picked up the heavy brass box, and clicked off the tactical flashlight he'd been holding in his teeth.

The abandoned pawnshop was swallowed by dead silence and darkness. Only a thin wash of moonlight through the windows lit the dust-covered floor beneath their feet.

The old district was eerily quiet this deep into the night — not even a stray cat's cry. The air felt thick and suffocating, pressing down on everything.

Penelope had barely taken two steps when Dominic's razor-sharp combat instincts screamed at him.

A faint electronic hum had crept into the air — the kind of sound that cuts right through a silent night.

Dominic snapped his head around. Through the pawnshop's grimy, cracked window, he caught several strange red dots flickering in the dark alley outside.

Military-grade sniper laser sights — sweeping toward their position at a terrifying speed.

"Get down!" Dominic let out a savage roar and threw himself at Penelope without a second thought.

His large, solid body slammed into her like a predator shielding its own, pinning her hard against the dust-caked floor.

The moment they hit the ground, the red dots swept across the exact spot where they'd been standing.

Then came a heavy, muffled crash — the pawnshop's old window exploded inward with brutal force.

Razor-sharp glass fragments tore through the darkness like a burst of shrapnel, biting into Dominic's broad back with a grinding shriek.

A sharp chemical stench flooded the narrow space in an instant, so thick it was nearly impossible to open their eyes. Their airways burned like fire.

A metal canister trailing dense white smoke sailed through the shattered window, bounced twice across the floor, and rolled to a stop at Penelope's feet. A biting, garlic-like reek punched straight into her nose.

Dominic reacted in a flash — he swung his leg up and kicked the canister hard, sending it spinning through the air.

It exploded mid-flight. Thick, viscous incendiary agent sprayed in every direction, instantly igniting the row of old rosewood cabinets along the wall.

This wasn't tear gas. It was a white phosphorus incendiary — Preston wanted to burn them and the evidence to ash.

Dominic ripped off his black windbreaker and threw it over Penelope, covering her completely.

He locked his left arm around her slender waist and hauled her up off the glass-strewn floor with one hand.

"Penelope — hold onto me. No matter what happens, don't let go."

The front door burst open with a violent crash. Five heavily armed killers in black flooded in, assault rifles raised.

Dominic pulled Penelope with him as he rolled frantically behind the narrow counter, each dodge precise down to the last inch.

He planted his boot against the counter's broken edge and launched himself off it like a panther, driving straight into the lead attacker.

His tactical knife flashed through the firelight in a blur — slicing clean through the man's carotid. Blood sprayed instantly.

Hot blood splattered across the windbreaker. Huddled beneath it, Penelope could feel Dominic's heart hammering wildly against his chest.

The wound on his abdomen — freshly sutured — had torn completely open. Warm, thick blood was soaking down through his tactical gear in a steady stream.

It soaked through Penelope's cream-colored suit, burning against the skin of her thighs. Her chest tightened beyond her control.

"Dom, have you lost your mind? Your wound has completely split open!"

Dominic kicked a body aside, grabbed the dead man's assault rifle, and opened fire one-handed at the doorway, laying down suppressing fire.

"I told you — as long as I'm still breathing, I'm not letting you die in this place."

The fire was completely out of control now. The abandoned pawnshop had become a furnace, and the rolling smoke made it nearly impossible to breathe.

Overhead, a thick burning beam gave a sickening crack and came crashing down.

Dominic spun around and took it across his back, throwing himself over Penelope to shield her completely.

The impact hit with a dull, crushing thud. A strangled grunt tore from Dominic's throat. His body shuddered violently, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

Penelope's eyes burned. She could feel the body pressed over hers trembling faintly — the kind of trembling that only comes from pain pushed past its limit.

"Dominic, you stubborn, impossible madman — you hold on. Don't you dare go down!"

At the sound of his full name, a weak, broken smile crossed Dominic's lips. He forced the blood back down his throat and pulled her tighter against him.

"The front is blocked. We fall back to the rear courtyard. Stay close."

He forced the words out through clenched teeth, then carried her through the wall of fire and gunfire, fighting toward the small door at the back of the pawnshop.

Dominic kicked the rear door open and rolled with Penelope into a cluttered open courtyard, breaking away from the direct line of fire.

Penelope pulled her head out from under the windbreaker, her eyes cutting sharply across their surroundings as her mind raced at full speed.

Her gaze locked onto a stack of worn burlap sacks piled in the corner of the yard. Faded hazard symbols were barely visible on their surfaces.

Industrial-grade aluminum powder and magnesium powder. Long abandoned — but in this bone-dry air, still lethally explosive.

"Dominic. Put me down right now and go slash open every one of those sacks."

Penelope broke free from his arms. Her voice had returned to the cold, absolute authority of someone used to being in command. Her eyes were sharp as a blade.

Dominic didn't hesitate for a single second. He drew his tactical knife and pushed through the pain, slashing every sack open with brutal efficiency.

Silver-gray powder poured across the ground. A sharp metallic smell filled the air, coating the back of the throat.

"Throw it all into the air — create a high-density dust cloud. Now!"

Penelope shouted the order as she moved quickly behind the solid old brick load-bearing wall at the far end of the courtyard, gripping the brass box tight.

Dominic understood her plan immediately. He grabbed two of the torn sacks and hurled them into the air with everything he had left.