Chapter 8 - ABDUCTION IN THE RAIN
Gunfire erupted like a sudden hailstorm against the bulletproof windows of the limousine.
"Down! Stay on the floor!" Raphael roared, shoving Josephine onto the carpeted floorboards and covering her body with his own. The specialized reinforced glass was already spider-webbing under heavy caliber armor-piercing rounds.
"Gideon, clear the right flank!" Raphael barked, kicking open the reinforced side door. He leaned out into the rain, returning disciplined bursts of fire, dropping two attackers advancing through the smoke.
"Boss! We’re surrounded!" Gideon shouted, his rifle spitting brass into the dark. "They've got fifty men! Marco must have mobilized Valenti’s entire reserve!"
Through the chaotic strobe of muzzle flashes, Josephine looked through the shattered windshield. Ahead on the highway, another convoy was burning.
"Leo..." she screamed, realizing the route they were on was the primary transit corridor between Providence and Boston General. "Raphael! The hospital van! They were transferring Leo to the private estate tonight!"
Raphael's heart seized. Marco had known the transport schedule.
A smoke grenade rolled beneath their vehicle, releasing dense, choking white phosphorus. Through the blinding fog, a heavily armored tactical truck rammed the side of the limousine, peeling the steel door off its hinges.
Three masked men rushed the opening with stun batons and zip-ties. Raphael fought like an enraged beast, breaking the neck of the first assailant and shooting the second point-blank, but a third attacker struck him across the temple with the butt of a heavy shotgun.
Raphael crashed to the ground, his vision swimming in crimson and dark spots.
"Raphael!" Josephine screamed.
Marco Morello stepped through the smoke, holding a submachine gun, his face twisted in a manic grin. He grabbed Josephine by the hair, hauling her out of the wrecked vehicle into the pouring rain.
"Look at your Don now, little girl!" Marco sneered, pressing the hot barrel of his gun against her temple. "Bleeding in the mud like a dog!"
"Leave him!" Josephine cried, struggling with all her might. "Take me! I'm the one you want to hurt him with! Don't shoot him!"
"Oh, you're coming with us," Marco laughed darkly. "Valenti is waiting at Harbor Point. You’re going to watch your little brother take his final breath, and then we’re going to carve your pretty face up for the boss."
They threw a black canvas hood over her head and shoved her into the back of a speeding van.
On the rain-soaked asphalt, Raphael dragged himself up on one elbow, blood pouring down the side of his face. His fingers dug into the mud, his eyes fixed on the taillights disappearing into the darkness.
Gideon limped over, clutching a bleeding shoulder, extending a hand. "Boss... they got her. And they took the boy's medical transport."
Raphael stood up slowly. The pain in his head vanished, replaced by an abyssal, terrifying calmness. The aura surrounding him was no longer that of a businessman or a mob boss. It was the wrath of a god of death.
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"Call every capo loyal to my father," Raphael whispered, his voice like grinding glaciers. "Unlock the armory at Fort Adams. We are not taking prisoners tonight. Boston will burn."
***
