Chapter 5 - The Glass Barrier
The heavy motorized steel shutters above L’Hiver’s front windows began to descend with a loud, mechanical WHIRR-CLANG.
Outside, on the wet pavement, Victor Cole realized his surprise attack had been ruined. He reached into his trench coat, pulled out a heavy, silenced tactical pistol, and barked a command into his lapel microphone.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
Three heavy caliber rounds slammed into the thick reinforced glass of the front entrance before the steel shutters could completely seal the frame. The glass shattered into a thousand webbed cracks, but the bulletproof layer held, preventing the projectiles from entering the dining room.
Inside, panic erupted.
Diners screamed, knocking over wine glasses and mahogany chairs as they scrambled toward the back kitchen or cowered under linen-covered tables.
"Marcus! Get the guests into the wine cellar!" Julian ordered, stepping into the void left by the fleeing staff. "It's reinforced steel with a separate exit to the sewer line! Go!"
Marcus nodded, immediately directing the terrified patrons and restaurant staff through the double doors toward the basement stairs, while Julian pulled a compact 9mm Glock from an ankle holster beneath his trousers.
Guzman did not run. He stood in the center of the checkered marble foyer, carrying his youngest granddaughter, while Julian kept the ten-year-old girl behind his broad frame.
"Where is Clara?" Guzman demanded, staring at Julian through the heavy dust settling from the shattered windows. "If Cole is here, where is my daughter?"
"She's in the delivery van across the street," Julian answered, checking the magazine of his pistol with a practiced flick of his wrist. "Cole kept her alive for twelve years because she was his insurance policy against your intelligence network. He brought her here tonight to force you to sign over the Baltic shipping deeds. But the moment his men realized the girls slipped away... the timeline moved up."
"Then we go outside," Guzman said flatly, his hand tightening around the little girl's waist.
"We go outside when I say so, Arthur," Julian countered sternly. "Cole’s men are professionals. They carry automatic weapons. If we step into that alley without a plan, we all die in the rain."
A sudden heavy blow struck the reinforced metal service door at the rear of the kitchen.
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BOOM!
The steel door groaned on its hinges. The siege of L’Hiver had begun.
