Chapter 192: A Desperate Battle

Meanwhile, everyone in the living room froze when they heard the alarm blaring from upstairs.

Melody Summers was the first to react. "There are intruders trying to break into the villa!" she said urgently. "They must be on the second-floor terrace right now!"

After reinforcing the villa, the second-floor terrace remained the most vulnerable point of entry, so Melody Summers had installed an alarm system there.

Even though the terrace’s glass doors had been replaced with bulletproof glass, they probably wouldn’t hold for long.

Officer Rhodes immediately drew his handgun and gave Melody Summers rapid-fire instructions. "This villa has a basement, right? Get the two older women down there and hide. Don’t come out for any reason. Once you’re secure, cut the main power to the house! Then call the police!"

Seeing Roman was planning to stay in the living room alone, Grandma, fearing for his safety, grabbed his arm. "What if there’s a whole group of them?" she said in a panic. "How can you handle them by yourself? They’re still upstairs smashing the windows, let’s run outside and call for help!"

Roman shook his head, his voice strained with urgency. "No, absolutely don’t go outside! There’s almost certainly an ambush waiting. Get to the basement, now! Cut the power! Call the police! Don’t worry about me, I can handle this!"

Grandma started to say something else, but Melody Summers and Miss Lowell quickly pulled her back. "We’d only get in his way out there," Miss Lowell said urgently. "The most important thing right now is to hide and call the police!"

Her words brought Grandma back to her senses, and she nodded frantically. She was still worried, but she knew she couldn’t help, and hesitating any longer would only put Roman in more danger.

Melody Summers dialed 911 on her phone as she helped her grandmother and Miss Lowell hurry to the basement and shut the door.

After getting the two older women settled, Melody Summers threw the main breaker, and the entire villa was instantly plunged into darkness.

Just then, the glass doors on the second-floor terrace shattered under several heavy blows. Glass flew everywhere as Kenneth Adler and his men successfully breached the house.

After the four men climbed into the villa, a goon in a windbreaker fumbled for the light switch. Frowning, he said, "Damn, looks like they cut the power!"

Kenneth Adler clicked his tongue. "Little bitch," he swore. "Quick on her feet."

Then they fumbled to turn on their flashlights.

Turning on a flashlight in the dark was an act that exposed their position, but they weren’t afraid. They thought the villa only held a few helpless women. For them, this was simply a one-sided slaughter.

Kenneth Adler’s four-man team, flashlights in one hand and guns in the other, swept the second floor. They smashed cameras as they went, but ultimately found the entire level empty.

Seeing this, they decided to split up. Kenneth Adler motioned for two of his men to head to the first floor, while he and the subordinate in the windbreaker went to the third floor to continue the search.

Just then, the sound of a distant explosion reached them. The four men exchanged glances, a sense of unease creeping in.

Kenneth Adler ordered in a low voice, "Make it quick. Young or old, shoot on sight. No hesitation."

The two subordinates nodded and headed for the first-floor living room.

...

In the pitch-black darkness, Roman Rhodes was a ghost, silently lurking in the shadows of a corner of the living room.

He held his handgun, finger resting lightly on the trigger. In his other hand, he raised a military-grade night vision monocular he had on him, silently observing the staircase.

Suddenly, a beam of light, accompanied by footsteps, descended from the staircase. Roman’s nerves instantly tightened. He saw two figures walking down.

Roman was surprised. ’I can’t believe these intruders are stupid enough to use a flashlight and give away their position.’

His heart sank. ’Do they know the Summers family’s situation? Do they know there are no bodyguards, which is why they’re being so brazen?’

’How would they know that?’

Roman frowned, pushing the thoughts aside. As the two goons stepped off the last stair, he shot to his feet, raised his handgun, and took aim.

In an instant, gunfire shattered the night’s silence. Muzzle flashes flickered as bullets whizzed through the air.

BANG! BANG! Two sharp gunshots rang out. A bullet found its mark, striking one of the goons in the head. He didn’t even have time to cry out before he collapsed, blood pooling on the floor.

The other goon was stunned. ’How does this family have a gun?’

He didn’t have time to process it. He just scrambled for cover, trying to return fire.

But Roman didn’t give him the chance.

Roman fired again. The bullet struck true, and the second goon fell into a pool of his own blood.

On the third floor, Kenneth Adler and his man were startled by the gunshots. "They’re downstairs!" Kenneth said decisively. "Let’s go!"

But the subordinate in the windbreaker grabbed his arm. "Wait," he said, frowning. "Something’s not right."

Kenneth Adler froze. ’He’s right. If our guys had killed the Summers family, someone would have reported back by now. But it’s too quiet! Unless...’

They exchanged a look, seeing the same confusion and unease reflected in each other’s eyes.

...

In the basement, Grandma and Miss Lowell were sent into a panic by the sudden sound of gunfire.

Their minds raced with countless terrible possibilities, each one making their hearts pound faster.

Melody Summers stared grimly at the security feed on her phone. The intruders had shot out most of the cameras inside and outside the villa, but luckily, the one at the basement entrance had survived. She kept her eyes glued to the screen, ready for any attempt to breach their hiding spot.

Melody’s heart clenched as she heard the gunshots. ’I want to go out and help Officer Rhodes,’ she thought, ’but I’m terrified the intruders will get down here. I can’t leave Grandma and Miss Lowell alone!’

Melody was wracked with anxiety, her mind racing.

Grandma’s hands were clenched so tightly her knuckles were white. Miss Lowell’s lips trembled as she mumbled, "Oh, good heavens, please let him be all right..."

"Grandma, Miss Lowell, don’t worry," Melody whispered, trying to comfort them. "The police will be here soon."

In the living room, Roman clicked off the dead intruder’s flashlight, plunging the hall back into darkness.

Not knowing how many intruders there were in total, Roman didn’t dare to rush upstairs to check. He could only remain in his ambush position on the first floor.

Just as he shrank back into the corner and raised his night vision monocular, a piece of burning clothing was suddenly thrown down the stairs!

The burning garment landed on a wooden chair in the living room, which was topped with a cotton cushion. Cotton is highly flammable.

The goon in the windbreaker was about to head downstairs when he glanced down and spotted Roman in the corner of the room. Startled, he immediately raised his handgun.

But he was a step too slow. Roman already had his gun raised and aimed. Using the light from the fire, he fired a single shot into the man’s chest.

The goon grunted and collapsed.

The burning wooden chair spat embers, some of them landing on the nearby carpet.

Roman was still in the corner. Seeing the fire about to spread, he knew his position would be a dead end once the flames reached him. He would be trapped.

Suddenly, he spotted two fire extinguishers next to the sofa. Roman glanced upstairs, gritted his teeth, and reached for one of them.

But just as he reached for it, a shot rang out. Roman felt a massive impact on his left shoulder—he’d been hit!

He grunted in pain but ignored the blood streaming from the wound. He scrambled back into the corner, raising his gun to fire two shots back up the stairs.

Unfortunately, he missed, and his gun was now empty.

As Roman’s trembling hands fumbled for a new magazine, Kenneth Adler walked down the stairs.

He skirted the burning chair and carpet, one hand covering his mouth and nose with his sleeve to block the smoke, the other aiming his gun at Roman. He fired twice. BANG! BANG!

Roman hastily rolled to dodge the bullets, but one still caught him in the thigh.

Roman grunted and collapsed onto the floor in a heap.

Seeing Roman lying there in a pool of blood, his face twisted in pain, Kenneth Adler’s expression became almost manic. "Roman Rhodes," he shouted, his voice muffled by his sleeve, "I never expected to find you here, you son of a bitch! This is perfect. I’ll finish you off first, then burn this entire family alive!"

Roman stared at Kenneth Adler, gritting his teeth as he struggled to prop himself up, preparing to lunge for the man’s gun.

But with bullet wounds in his thigh and left shoulder, on top of having inhaled a large amount of thick smoke, he had no strength left. His consciousness was already starting to fade.

Roman felt a surge of despair. ’I’ve never been this close to death before.’

He wasn’t sure if it was a hallucination, but he thought he could faintly hear more gunshots from outside.

Kenneth Adler’s smile was grotesquely twisted in the firelight as he advanced on Roman.

Just as Roman was about to crawl forward and drag Kenneth Adler into the inferno with him, a single gunshot—BANG—rang out from behind him.

A hole appeared in Kenneth Adler’s chest, blood gushing from the wound.

The triumphant gleam in Kenneth Adler’s eyes was instantly replaced by a look of dazed confusion. Before he could even turn to see what had happened, he collapsed, falling straight backward.

Roman was stunned. Panting heavily, he struggled to lift his head. There, illuminated by the spreading fire, stood Winnie Summers at the entrance to the living room, a handgun clutched tightly in her hands.