Chapter 21
CHAPTER 21: THE BLACKOUT
The darkness in the foundry was absolute. The mechanical clanking of the iron security doors sealing us inside sounded like the jaws of a giant beast snapping shut.
"Valeria! Stay down!" my father’s voice roared through the blackness.
A split second later, the night vision scopes of Marcus Vance’s tactical team clicked to life, casting an eerie green glow across the rusted pillars. Gunfire erupted outside the walls—not the tactical bursts of the FBI, but the heavy, rhythmic thumping of military-grade automated weapons.
"We’re completely cut off!" Marcus shouted into his comms, his voice cracking with a rare hint of panic. "The federal comms network just went dead. Satellite, cellular, radio—everything is jammed. Whoever just hit Isabella’s chopper brought a military-grade electronic warfare unit."
I threw my body over Leo’s car seat, pressing my back against a concrete barrier. My heart pounded against my ribs like a trapped bird. I pulled out my phone. The screen was still glowing with that horrifying, untraceable video loop: Sofia Vance, my brilliant, untouchable attorney, being thrown into the back of a black van in the middle of Manhattan.
"Dad," I choked out, showing him the screen in the dim green light. "It’s a multi-front strike. They didn't just ambush us here in Veracruz. They hit New York at the exact same time."
Ricardo Salazar looked at the screen, his jaw hardening into a expression I had never seen before. It wasn't anger; it was an old, buried recognition.
"The Syndicate," my father whispered, the words barely carrying over the sound of the gunfire outside.
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"What?" I asked, straining to hear. "What syndicate, Dad?"
Before he could answer, the heavy steel security door to our left groaned. Someone was using a thermal lance to burn through the hinges. Sparks rained down into the dark like a waterfall of fire, illuminating a towering silhouette waiting on the other side.
