Every window in the house detonated inward. Shards of glass rained down like a crystalline storm as dark figures swung in on ropes, blades gleaming in the moonlight. Without a moment's hesitation, they lunged.
The woman braced for the end, closing her eyes as terror paralyzed her. Then, a sharp whoosh tore through the air.
When she opened her eyes, the assassins were already sprawled across the floor. Henry stood among them, his boot planted firmly on the face of their leader. He looked back at her, his expression entirely unbothered.
"Let's go, Madam," Henry said.
"Where?" The woman gasped.
"Out of here."
Suddenly, Henry's eyes widened. In a split second, he tackled her into the adjacent hallway just as a deafening hail of gunfire chewed through the wall. The living room was instantly reduced to flying splinters and swiss cheese.
"We have to move," Henry grunted, scanning the hallway. He swept his hand along the wood paneling, searching for a hidden release. A sharp click echoed, and a concealed door popped open.
The woman stared in shock.
"Follow me," he ordered. She scrambled after him, and Henry slammed the secret door shut behind them, sealing them in darkness just as the gunfire outside intensified.
Outside, the barrage was relentless.
"Keep firing! Chew the whole place down!" the bald man barked. He had assumed Henry was a dead man, but the bodyguard had moved like a ghost, neutralizing the entire breach team in a literal blur.
After a few minutes of continuous, heavy suppressing fire, the bald man grew impatient. "Hand me the RPG!" he roared.
A henchman hurried forward, bringing the rocket launcher and slamming a round into the tube. Smiling wickedly, the bald man aimed at the structure. I'll take them both out at once, he thought.
He pulled the trigger.
BOOM.
The house erupted into a violent fireball. The bald man laughed, basking in the glow of the destruction—until a mercenary ran up, holding a tracking tablet.
Looking at the screen, the bald man's face flushed crimson with rage. "They're still alive? Damn you, Henry!" he screamed. "What are you idiots standing around for? Hunt them down!"
Meanwhile, Henry and the woman were sprinting through a damp, subterranean tunnel.
"Where are we going?" The woman asked, her voice still trembling.
"To a safe house," Henry replied, his pace unbroken. "Madam, you need to contact your family or anyone with serious political influence."
"Why?"
"To send a message. If whoever is targeting you realizes your inner circle is mobilizing reinforcements to save you, they might think twice about pushing further."
The woman nodded, pulling her phone from her purse. She quickly dialed a familiar number.
"Hello?" a cold male voice answered on the first ring.
"It's me, Talia," she breathed.
"Are you safe? What's happening?"
"Tell everyone in our circle—and my parents—that I'm in danger," Talia said sharply. "If you help me get out of this, we can finally talk about that deal."
The man on the other end let out a heavy, resigned sigh. "Fine. Consider it done."
Talia ended the call and slipped the phone away. Up ahead, the silhouette of an exit door appeared.
"Was that your father?" Henry asked.
"No," Talia said, pushing past him toward the exit. "It was the man who sent you."
Henry's stride broke completely. Shocked by the revelation, he stumbled, nearly wiping out, but managed a desperate mid-air roll to catch his footing and slide to a halt. She knows? he thought, his mind racing.
He quickly recovered and kicked the exit door open. But as Talia stepped toward the threshold, Henry's instincts screamed. He grabbed her arm and yanked her violently backward into the shadows of the tunnel.
A heartbeat later, a familiar voice echoed from the woods outside.
"Come on out, Henry. I know you're in there."
Talia gasped, recognizing the voice instantly. "How did they find us so fast?" she whispered.
Henry's mind raced. How did they beat us to our own extraction point? Am I missing something? Then, he looked down at her purse. The call.
"Madam, turn off your phone right now," Henry whispered urgently. "They're tracking your GPS signal."
Talia's eyes widened in realization, and she instantly powered the device down. Henry nodded, drawing a handful of throwing knives from his vest. With a fluid flick of his wrist, he sent them whistling out the door as a distraction, forcing the mercenaries outside to dive for cover.
"Boys, eyes open! Watch the door!" the bald man yelled outside.
"This way," Henry whispered to Talia. Instead of heading through the front exit, he spun around and drove his boot into a seemingly solid brick wall of the tunnel. A secondary hidden mechanism tripped, and another narrow passage split open. He pulled Talia inside.