Chapter 13: The Flash of Steel and Lead
The heavy wooden door swung inward with a sudden, violent kick that splintered the latch and sent wood chips flying down the concrete steps. A dark silhouette filled the doorway, holding a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun leveled at the interior of the root cellar.
Jack didn't hesitate. He didn't issue a warning. In close-quarters combat on the freezing fringe of survival, hesitation was fatal.
He fired twice in rapid succession. The heavy report of the revolver deafened the small underground room, muzzle flash illuminating the concrete walls in a blinding strobe of orange light. The first round shattered the door frame inches from the intruder's head, while the second struck the shotgun barrel with a violent metallic ring, knocking the weapon upward and out of the enforcer's grasp.
The man let out a surprised oath, stumbling backward onto the frozen gravel outside.
"Now, Caleb! Move!" Jack shouted over the ringing in his ears, lunging up the steps to cover the exit.
From behind the second intruder, who was scrambling for cover behind a rusted forklift ten yards away, came the sharp crack of a pistol firing blindly toward the cellar entrance. A bullet ricocheted off the concrete steps, sending a shower of sparks into the dark air.
Jack leaned around the splintered door frame, squeezing off two more deliberate shots toward the forklift to pin the second assailant behind cover, while using his left arm to reach down and grab Caleb by the collar of his mechanic's jumpsuit. With a surge of adrenaline-fueled strength, Jack hauled the injured man up the concrete stairs, dragging him out into the freezing night air.
"Lily! Come on! Stay behind me!" Jack yelled back down into the cellar.
Lily scrambled up the steps with astonishing speed, holding little Toby wrapped tightly in the oversized leather jacket. She didn't drop the plastic bag of coins either, the metallic rattle sounding like a tiny war drum against her chest as she sprinted across the frozen clearing toward the thicket where the motorcycle was hidden.
"They're getting away! Cut them off!" the second enforcer screamed from behind the forklift, his footsteps crunching frantically over the ice as he tried to flank them from the left side of the ruined shed.
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Jack fired his final round in the direction of the voice, buying them three crucial seconds of cover. He holstered the empty revolver, scooped Caleb up in a fireman's carry over his broad shoulder, and sprinted through the snow toward the motorcycle.
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