Chapter 8 - Fire and Blood
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The roar of gunfire tore through the ancient wooden walls like a chainsaw through paper.
Plaster dust exploded into the air, choking Emily’s lungs as Richard held her pinned beneath his heavy frame.
A heavy bullet gouged a trench through the floorboards less than six inches from her cheek.
"Stay low and crawl behind the chimney brick!" Richard shouted over the deafening cacophony.
He rolled onto his back, raising his weapon toward the shattered window frame, firing three controlled shots into the mist.
A scream echoed from the roof across the alley, followed by the heavy thud of a body hitting the concrete below.
"Richard, your side!" Emily screamed.
Blood was pouring down his shirt again, the concussive force of his dive having ripped his sutures wide open.
"Forget the bleeding!" he growled, grabbing the steel lockbox with one hand and hauling her by the arm toward the hallway.
Downstairs, the front door was kicked off its hinges with a tremendous boom.
"Callahan!" a mocking voice bellowed from the first floor.
"Come down, Ricky! Salvatore sent his regards from the grave!"
Richard pulled Emily behind the thick brickwork of the central chimney, his breathing ragged and shallow.
From below, one of Richard's loyal guards screamed out in agony as a burst of fire cut him down on the stairs.
The second guard was dead in the driveway.
They were cut off.
A sudden whoosh of heat swept up the stairwell, accompanied by the thick, sweet stench of burning gasoline.
"They're burning the house down!" Emily panicked, the heat already searing her cheeks.
"Good," Richard whispered, his dark eyes igniting with a terrifying, cold fury.
"Smoke covers our escape."
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a heavy tactical smoke grenade, pulling the pin with his teeth.
He hurled it down the stairwell.
A thick wall of white, blinding smoke erupted instantly, choking the gunmen advancing up the wooden steps.
Coughing and blind firing erupted from below.
Richard grabbed Emily's hand, pulling her toward the small window at the back of the hallway that led onto the porch roof.
"Jump to the roof, then slide into the dumpster below!" he ordered.
"What about you?"
"I'm right behind you, go!"
Emily scrambled through the window, the cold rain hitting her face as she hit the slick shingles.
She slid down the slope, tumbling into the rusted commercial trash bin filled with damp cardboard boxes.
She hit the bottom hard, bruising her ribs, but scrambled to her feet immediately.
Above her, Richard appeared at the roofline, firing his remaining rounds back into the burning bedroom.
A burst of return fire sparked off the metal flashing.
Richard grunted, his body jolting as a bullet caught him in the upper shoulder.
He vaulted off the roof, crashing heavily into the dumpster beside her.
The old house behind them exploded into a massive fireball, sending orange flames licking into the gray Chicago sky.
Emily dragged Richard upright, her hands covered in his hot, slick blood.
"Richard! Stay with me!" she begged, tears cutting through the soot on her face.
His armored SUV roared through the burning fence line, driven by Victor, the passenger door swinging open wildly.
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Emily shoved the steel lockbox into the car, then pulled Richard with every ounce of strength she possessed into the backseat.
The vehicle accelerated into the rain, leaving the burning remnants of her past behind them in a wall of smoke.
