Chapter 20 - THE MEATPACKING PLANT
Inside the freezing plant, Evelyn was bruised, her lip split, but she had not broken. She had fed Volkov fake passwords, triggering secondary firewalls that delayed his hackers for hours.
"You are playing games, little girl," Volkov snarled, drawing a jagged hunting knife. "I am out of patience."
Before he could step forward, the reinforced steel doors of the plant blew off their hinges with a concussive force that shook the foundation.
Through the smoke stepped Lorenzo Moretti, an avenging angel of death. He held an assault rifle in one hand and a shotgun in the other. He didn't speak. He just fired.
The ensuing gunfight was a blur of tactical precision and sheer, unadulterated rage. Dante and the strike team flanked the room, systematically executing Volkov’s guards. Lorenzo walked straight through the hail of bullets, entirely focused on Volkov.
Volkov grabbed Evelyn by the hair, putting the knife to her throat. "Drop the guns, Moretti! Or the queen dies!"
Lorenzo didn't hesitate. He dropped the rifles, his hands raised. "Let her go, Nikolai. This is between you and me."
"No, this is about taking your throne!" Volkov laughed, stepping backward toward an escape door, dragging Evelyn with him.
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But Evelyn wasn't a helpless hostage. Drawing on the self-defense drills she had practiced, she stomped her heel viciously into Volkov’s instep, threw her weight backward, and bit down hard on his forearm. Volkov howled, dropping the knife.
In that split second of separation, Lorenzo drew his backup pistol from his ankle holster and fired a single, perfect shot. The bullet struck Volkov directly between the eyes. The giant Russian collapsed, dead before he hit the floor.
