Chains of Power

Chapter 4 — Crossfire

The crack of gunfire tore the night apart. Glass shattered in the convoy’s windshield as Edmond shoved Maddox down, the world erupting in sparks and smoke. “Contact left!” Edmond barked, voice steady, commanding.

Soldiers reacted instantly, training snapping into place. The convoy braked hard, screeching tires echoing against steel and concrete.

More bullets rained, ricocheting off the armored vehicles, sparks showering like fireworks. Maddox drew his sidearm, eyes sharp. “Who the hell has the stones to pull this stunt downtown?”

“Not amateurs,” Edmond growled. He flung the door open, rolling out onto the asphalt as more rounds chewed through the car frame.

He moved with lethal grace, three years of chains unable to dull the instincts burned into his bones. Two soldiers followed, one taking a knee, the other scanning rooftops. “Multiple hostiles, high ground!”

Edmond’s voice cut through the chaos. “Suppressing fire, three-second bursts,  now!”

Automatic rifles roared back, tracer rounds carving streaks of fire into the dark. The attackers faltered, their rhythm disrupted.

Edmond sprinted toward the nearest barricade, a concrete planter riddled with bullet holes. A shadow lunged from the side alley, knife flashing.

Edmond sidestepped, gripped the man’s wrist, twisted, and the blade clattered to the ground. One strike to the throat, one elbow to the jaw, and the attacker crumpled.

He didn’t waste time. He snatched the fallen man’s earpiece, shoved it in. A voice crackled immediately. “target is priority one. Do not let him leave alive”

Edmond ripped the device out, eyes narrowing. Priority one. Not Maddox. Not the convoy. Him. Back near the vehicles, Maddox unleashed two precise shots, dropping a gunman from the rooftop. “Edmond, we can’t hold this in the open!”

“We’re not meant to hold,” Edmond shouted back. “We break through.”

The convoy engines roared again as drivers forced cars into reverse, ramming the unmarked vehicles blocking the street. Metal screamed against metal. Sparks flew as tires shredded. Soldiers fired from windows, providing cover.

“On me!” Edmond yelled, signaling to the squad nearest him. He dashed forward under cover fire, sliding behind the lead blockade car.

One kick, one brutal shove, the door burst open, a man inside raising his weapon too late. Edmond’s pistol barked once, clean and final. “Clear!” he called.

Soldiers surged, seizing the opening. The convoy pushed forward, crushing wreckage under armored wheels. The attackers scrambled, momentum broken. Within minutes, sirens wailed in the distance, local law enforcement, drawn by the firefight.

Edmond fired one last shot, dropping a fleeing gunman. Then silence fell, broken only by the hiss of smoke and the crackle of radios.

Maddox strode over, eyes blazing. “That was no random hit. That was coordinated.”

Edmond holstered his weapon, scanning the carnage. Bodies lay sprawled, faces masked, weapons unmarked. No insignia. No trails. “They came for me,” Edmond said flatly.

Maddox gritted his teeth. “Whoever gave that order didn’t expect you to walk out of prison tonight. Somebody’s nervous.”

Edmond’s eyes darkened. “Good. They should be.”

Selene shut her office door with trembling hands, shutting out the noise of her family downstairs. Vincent’s mocking laughter still rang in her ears.

Her mother’s cold disdain, her father’s disappointed silence, all of it suffocated her. She collapsed onto the leather chair, staring at the glowing headlines on her tablet.

AMBUSH ON GENERAL WELDER, UNKNOWN ASSAILANTS ATTACK CONVOY

Hero or Target? Mystery Deepens Around Edmond Welder’s Return

Selene Carter Linked to Divorced General Amid Scandal

Her pulse hammered. The last headline burned into her vision. She had thought divorce would sever her from Edmond’s shadow. Instead, it had welded her name to his forever.

Her hand hovered over her phone. She could call him. She could demand answers. But what would she even say? I’m sorry I abandoned you? I didn’t know you were a hero?

Tears pricked the corners of her eyes, but she blinked them back. Selene Carter didn’t cry. Not where anyone could see. Her screen buzzed again. A new message from that same unknown number:

They’ll come for you too, Selene. He was your shield. Without him, you’re nothing but prey. She froze, the words cutting colder than any insult Vincent had thrown. Prey.

She whispered to the empty office, “Edmond… what have I done?”

Emergency sirens painted the streets red and blue. The convoy had pushed clear of the ambush, but Edmond knew this was only the beginning.

Inside the armored car, Maddox studied him. “You kept your men alive tonight. The silence didn’t take that from you.”

Edmond’s jaw clenched. “Silence took everything else.”

Maddox leaned in. “Then maybe it’s time to start talking. To me. To the people. If you don’t, this will only get worse.”

Edmond’s gaze shifted to the skyline, lights shimmering like fragile stars. Somewhere out there, Selene was watching. The woman who had cut him loose, the woman he still couldn’t stop loving.

But tonight wasn’t about her. Tonight was about the truth, and the truth had just tried to kill him.

He turned back to Maddox, voice steady. “Find out who ordered this. I want names.”

Maddox nodded grimly. “And when you get them?”

Edmond’s eyes hardened, steel beneath the calm. “Then I’ll decide who lives in silence… and who dies for it.”

At Carter Manor, Selene’s phone buzzed again. She almost didn’t look, but when she did, her breath caught. This time, it wasn’t a text. It was a live feed.

Edmond. Standing in the smoking aftermath of the ambush. His face hard, eyes lethal. His lips moving, and the broadcast’s caption scrolling beneath: “The war isn’t over. It’s only begun.”

Selene’s hands shook. She whispered into the dark, as if he could hear her through the screen. “Edmond… who are you really?”