Chapter 39: Tensions Mount

The evening air had the kind of worry that just preceded a storm. Sharp senses let Aidan Pierce see the shadows deepen from his vantage point in a run-down warehouse just outside the city. His battle with Victor will take front stage tonight at breaking point.

Marcus, who was loading a revolver with a grim purpose, Dominic, whose fingers shook slightly as he studied his weaponry, and Sarah, a tech wiz Aidan had recruited to watch Victor's movements and chats gathered around him in the dimly lighted room. Each one of them had the marks of a long, cruel fight carried out in silence and shadows.

They were ready as best they could have been. Every skirmish had chipped away at Aidan's crew, in numbers and spirit; Victor's troops were cruel, tough, well-trained. Their one objective, though, was to eliminate Victor and recover the Pierce empire.

From Sarah's communication device, there was soft cracking. Her voice almost audible, "We have movement," she added. She tuned the headphones, squinting her eyes to track the approaching vehicles. "Three fairly armed vehicles." They are moving swiftly.

Aidan's jaw stiffened. Though not with such precision, he had expected Victor to strike. Quietly navigating the dark warehouse building—a location they had chosen for strategic observation sites and covert exits—he indicated for his crew to withdraw. Though he knew every inch of this place and had chosen it for safety and refuge, it now seemed like a trap closing in on them.

Their temporary base was a central hall. Aidan turned quickly to check Marcus. "Leave the exit on the south. Dominate; cover the rear. Track their letters and let us know whether they split up. Sarah's Every nodded, playing their roles, their actions methodical yet the horror simmered beneath the surface.

As Victor's men arrived, their flashlights sliced over the shadows like a blade's edge, echoing steps over the construction. Aidan inhaled, then pushed his back into the wall in search of the ideal assault location.

A gunshot burst through the silence. Marcus had shot one of the mercenaries who had wandered too close. The shooting pushed the entire construction into pandemonium, mercenaries screaming orders and scattering to cover the exits.

Aidan dove behind a stack of merchandise fast as bullets passed his head. Turning around the corner, he saw Victor's second-in-command—a hard-faced man noted for his aggressiveness. As Lyle led the mercenaries to round the warehouse, his voice boomed out bellowing orders.

"Keep traveling!" Announcing his troops to continue their run, Aidan yelled. His heart racing, he turned back at the advancing mercenaries as air filled with bullets. His brain computed every movement and every escape path. Their ground could not hold here—not against a force this strong.

Stiff hands reloading his gun, Dominic stepped into cover alongside Aidan. His voice tight with horror, he said, "We're outnumbered." "There is no way we are leaving here without losing people."

"We're getting out," Aidan stated with a forceful voice. "Keep to the scheme."

Knowing the unsaid signals between them, they looked despondingly. Aidan knew that every moment they maintained their position was a gamble with their life; this was a fight for survival.

From the corner of his eye, Aidan watched Sarah crouched over her laptop furiously typing as she broke into Victor's communications. Her eyes wide, she replied, "They're coordinating from the west side." "We'll have chance to break through if we can eliminate their command point."

Aidan nodded then gestured to Marcus. " Cover Sarah." Our trip will take us west.

Their march across the poorly illuminated hallways exacerbated the conflict. From every angle a gunfire blast off metal beams and cement walls. Aidan shot back, his heart pounding and adrenaline coursed through him; his focus was just survival.

But as they headed west, a tremendous explosion rocked the warehouse, so disturbing the ground beneath. The blast sent Aidan flying off his feet and straight down on a stack of crates. As he struggled to find his bearings, he gasped; he felt extreme pain in his side. He could hardly see the figures slink through the smoke; the air smelled of trash and dust.

"Help!" Marcus's voice sliced across the chaos, and Aidan turned to see his friend dragging him to his feet.

Aidan grunched, straining to stand, "I'm fine." His eyesight flickering momentarily, he shrugged it off and focused on the current work. "Stay on the road." We nearly arrived here.

They pushed on, moving westward from the warehouse. Aidan focused on his radio as he led the mercenaries over the haze. Lyle was arranging them.

Aidan whispered now, raising his weapon. He inhaled steadily, then aimed to knock Lyle in the shoulder. The man did not collapse, although he lurched back clutching his injury. Instead, he focused on Aidan, bitter hatred flooding his eyes.

"You think will be plenty to stop me?" Drawing his own weapon, Lyle sneered. Marcus tackled him before he could fire; the two men were battling fiercely on the floor. He raised his revolver.

Aidan rushed to help, but another wave of mercenaries tore him off from the scene. Reversing behind a container as the shooting got more forceful, firing back. His ears reeled with the sounds of battle while the air smelled thick with gunpowder and smoke.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Sarah still feverishly typing with a pale, focused face. < She was the only one able to intercept Victor's messages and offer a fighting chance, therefore their only link to the outside.

"We aren't going to last very long!" Dominic yelled, almost heard above the firing.

Aidan clinched his teeth while his thoughts whirled in search of a way out. Every second that passed imprisoned them, besieged on all sides, and drove them closer to failure. Still, he vowed not now, not when they were so near to giving up.

Then he heard among the tumult approaching sirens. Police; perhaps fresh recruits. "We just have to hold on a little longer!" he screamed out to his colleagues, and he felt a flood of hope.

But when the sirens approached, the gunshots got much more aggressive. The mercenaries were not backing down, and Aidan felt terrible knowing they were prepared for straight to death combat.

He waved a last, desperate gesture to his squad. Drop back into the east wing! We shall grab it when the troops show up!

They battled their way past the tangle of boxes and garbage, their moves quick and purposeful. Lead by Aidan, his heart pounding as they neared the exit. However, when they reached the entrance a man crossed their path.

It was Victor, his face turned in a condescending smile as he raised his gun and squarely leveled it at Aidan.

"You really felt you could minimize me?" Victor snorted, sounding full of contempt. Aidan, you were an idiot everywhere. A small child passing for king.

Aidan's fingers tightened on his firearm and he concentrated his gaze on his uncle. This was the man who had stole his family's legacy and turned it into something evil and corrupt, so depriving everything from him. Now occupying Aidan's path, the last obstacle separating him from his birthright.

"You're the one going to fall, Victor," Aidan stated, his voice cold and firm. "Lies and blood characterize your country. To start with, you never owned it.

Victor's smile faltered, uncertainty fluttered over his cheeks. But it disappeared in an instant, then was replaced by a disdainful sneer. "Brave language, but it won't save you."

He made one brief fast motion.

As the bullet struck the warehouse, Aidan felt a stinging pain in his shoulder. There was a gunshot echoing back. Clutching his cut, he stumbled back but he fought falling. Rising his own weapon, he answered even as the earth dissolved around him.

But Victor's troops swooped in dragging Aidan to the ground before he could shoot. He resisted, kicked and fought, but with unrelenting clutches they brought him down.

His vision blurring, he laid there and saw Victor standing over him, a proud smile on his face.

"This is where it ends, Aidan," Victor said, looking content. You really posed no threat. Just a bother. And you will then be nothing at all.

Aidan's hold on his weapon was slackening; his strength was withering. Still, he would not stop. With a last surge of resolve, he lifted his head and fixed Victor squarely.

With almost discernible voice, he whispered, "It's not over." Not now.

Then he heard noises from some distance; the military had arrived.

Aidan is caught at the end of the chapter; his destiny is undetermined, but there is hope that reinforcements would at last assist to turn the tide. The scene for an explosive Chapter 40 will be set by Aidan's allies rushing against time to save him and exposing Victor's empire.