Chapter 39: The Siege of Vance Tower
Chapter 39: The Siege of Vance Tower
The storm had returned to Chicago, a freezing deluge that turned the streets around Vance Tower into empty black mirrors.
At 11:30 PM, the tower was completely dark. Julian’s rogue forces had taken the building by force, cutting the primary power and holding the skeletal night-shift staff hostage in the lobby.
A heavy armored transport vehicle slammed through the tower's loading dock doors.
Arthur Hale was the first out, wearing black tactical gear, his rifle fitted with a thermal scope. Behind him came Thomas Sterling’s Aegis mercenaries, moving with disciplined precision.
Sarah walked in the center of the formation, wearing a bulletproof vest over her clothes, Hope secured in a specialized tactical carrier against her chest. She held the silver flash drive in her hand like a weapon.
"Reyes has the perimeter blocked three blocks out," Thomas Hale whispered through the comms from the van outside. "But Julian’s men have wired the elevator shafts with motion-activated claymores. You have to take the stairs."
"Fifty floors," Arthur muttered. "Sterling, keep your men on the flanks. If anything blinks, neutralize it."
The ascent was a nightmare of shadows and gunfire.
Julian’s rogue operatives ambushed them on the 22nd floor. The narrow concrete stairwell turned into a meat grinder of flashing muzzle bursts and deafening echoes. Arthur pushed Sarah behind his massive frame, firing three-round bursts into the dark above, dropping two attackers before they could drop a grenade.
"Keep moving!" Arthur roared, his shoulder bleeding from a fresh fragment wound.
By the time they reached the 49th floor, half of Sterling’s mercenaries were down. The air was thick with the smell of cordite and blood.
They burst through the heavy fire doors into the executive reception area. Sitting behind the glass desk was Richard Collins—the family lawyer. He was tied to a chair, his eyes wide with terror, a massive digital countdown timer wired to his chest.
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02:00... 01:59... 01:58...
"Arthur..." Richard gasped through a bloody mouth. "Julian... he's in the server core... he's waiting for her..."
