Chapter 169 Crossfire in the Gridlock
Chapter 169 Crossfire in the Gridlock
"You're a spoiled heiress who spent her entire life locked behind private gates," Lord Morris scoffed, waving his hand toward the hallway. "You know nothing about how real power works in the streets."
The woman in the dark silk dress tightened her jaw, but she kept her mouth shut as Morris turned his back on her.
"Get those two trucks moving south," Morris ordered his assistant. "I want that office stripped clean and those people handled by midnight."
The assistant bowed her head, typing the final coordinates into her tablet before hurrying down the corridor. Two transport trucks revved their engines in the lower courtyard, their heavy tires grinding against the pavement as they headed toward the highway.
\---
Hours later, yellow streetlights cut across the dashboard of the Bentley as it rolled through downtown Zenith City.
Sarah leaned her head back against the headrest, rubbing her tired eyes with the back of her fingers. The product launch had succeeded, but the endless supplier calls and distributor contracts had drained every ounce of strength from her body.
"We're almost home, Sarah," Luke said softly, his left hand resting loose on the steering wheel.
Sarah gave a slow nod, keeping her eyes shut against the glare of passing signs. "I just want to check on Zoe and sleep for ten hours straight."
Luke didn't reply. His dark eyes flicked up to the rearview mirror for the fourth time in two minutes.
A matte-black SUV had stayed locked three car lengths behind them since they crossed the river bridge, matching every single turn.
Up ahead, red brake lights flared across four lanes. Traffic ground to a dead stop beneath a wide concrete overpass, boxing the Bentley between a delivery truck and a concrete barrier.
Luke pressed the release button on his seatbelt, letting the strap slide back into the pillar.
In the lane directly behind them, the doors of the trailing vehicle flew open.
Four men in heavy body armor stepped out onto the asphalt. They carried short tactical rifles, their faces concealed behind black ballistic masks and heavy visors.
A woman in the sedan beside them shrieked, dropping her coffee cup onto the pavement as she scrambled into her backseat to hide. Other drivers began slamming their hands onto their horns, the sharp blares echoing loudly off the concrete walls of the overpass.
"Luke?" Sarah asked, her eyes snapping open at the sudden noise. "What's going on out there?"
"Stay in your seat, Sarah," Luke told her, his voice flat and steady. "It's just minor stuff."
"Where are you going?" she asked, reaching across the console to grab his forearm.
CLANG.
A heavy rifle round slammed into the rear trunk with a deafening crack, jarring the frame of the luxury car.
Sarah gasped, throwing her hands over her ears as the violent impact shook the metal chassis beneath her feet.
Around them, car doors banged open in rapid succession as terrified commuters abandoned their vehicles, running down the shoulder to escape the danger.
Luke's face hardened into cold stone.
He reached beneath the center console and pressed a concealed latch hidden deep in the leather trim.
A small panel dropped open with a soft mechanical click. Inside the velvet compartment rested a matte-black pistol with a long steel silencer attached to the barrel.
Sarah stared at the weapon, her breath catching in her throat. "Luke... why is there a gun in this car?"
"Keep your head down below the dashboard," Luke commanded, his tone leaving no room for argument. "Don't look up until I tell you."
He pulled the heavy weapon from the compartment, kicked his door open, and stepped out onto the road.
"Luke, wait!" Sarah cried out, lunging across the console, but the heavy door slammed shut behind his back.
The four armored gunmen advanced in a tight line, raising their rifles without shouting a single word of warning.
Muzzle flashes lit up the dark underpass in blinding strobes.
Sarah dropped low into the footwell, curling her body beneath the glove box as bullets cracked violently through the air above the roof. The sound of metal tearing and side glass shattering echoed all around the vehicle.
Her chest heaved with terror. She couldn't just crouch in the dark while her husband stood in the line of fire.
Sarah shifted her position, turning her head toward the passenger window. She raised her eyes just enough to look into the glass of the side mirror.
The reflection showed the road behind the rear bumper.
The lead gunman took a step forward, his rifle raised toward the driver's side.
His head snapped back. He dropped heavily to the asphalt, his weapon clattering across the lane.
A second later, the man beside him jerked sideways and crashed hard against the hood of an empty taxi, completely motionless.
The third and fourth men collapsed onto the road in rapid succession, their bodies hitting the pavement before their spent casings stopped bouncing.
Sarah stared at the small mirror in absolute shock.
A stray bullet shattered the passenger side mirror into fragments, scattering reflective glass across the door panel.
Before she could process what had happened, the loud roar of an engine shook the roadway.
A second black truck rammed through an abandoned sedan, skidding sideways across the middle lanes to block the entire road.
The side doors burst open.
Eight more men in tactical armor poured out into the street, raising heavy automatic rifles.
They didn't aim with care. They opened fire all at once, spraying a reckless hail of bullets across the entire roadway.
Rounds tore through car doors, blew out tires, and sparked off the concrete pillars above.
Fleeing drivers screamed in panic, diving behind concrete barriers and trash bins on the sidewalk.
Inside the car, Sarah clutched the edge of the leather seat until her knuckles turned white.
The volume of automatic gunfire was deafening. Nobody could stand in the middle of that open street and survive a barrage from eight automatic weapons.
Terror gripped her chest. She couldn't let Luke die alone on this pavement.
Sarah gripped the silver door handle with both hands.
She summoned every ounce of courage left in her body, shoved the heavy door open, and scrambled out onto the road into the chaos.
Sarah pulled herself up behind the metal door frame and looked toward the road.
The scene before her stopped her heart entirely.