Chapter 4 - Blackout
The emergency red backup lights flickered on a second later, casting long, bloody shadows across the metal walls of the interrogation room. Outside in the main bullpen, alarms began to wail in a frantic, rising shriek.
""What the hell is going on?"" Miller cursed, drawing his service weapon from its holster with a sharp metallic snap.
Boom.
A muffled explosion echoed from the lower parking garage, shaking the concrete floor beneath our feet and sending a cloud of grey dust billowing down the stairwell.
""Server room,"" Dana said instantly, her body dropping into a low, defensive crouch. She scanned the narrow hallway outside the open door. They're wiping the local precinct servers. Someone inside this building just triggered a physical data purge.
""Stay behind me,"" Miller ordered, stepping into the corridor.
I clutched the manila folder and the bank statements to my chest, my heart hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird. Ava was safe at the county hospital under heavy police guard—or so I prayed—but right here, right now, the net was closing in on us.
Down the hallway, the emergency sprinklers hissed to life, spraying a fine, freezing mist across the ceiling tiles. Heavy boots thudded against the stairs as several officers rushed toward the basement. But as we stepped out of the interrogation room, a tall figure in a dark tactical jacket stepped out from the shadows of the records alcove, blocking our only path to the elevator bay.
The man didn't hesitate. He raised a suppressed pistol and fired twice.
Puff. Puff.
Miller grunted, stumbling backward as a round caught him square in the shoulder plating of his vest, dropping him to one knee.
""Dana!"" I screamed.
In a blur of motion that defied human reaction time, Dana surged forward, ducking under the shooter's second round, and launched herself into the air. Her legs locked around the assassin's neck in a vicious flying scissor-takedown, slamming his head hard against the concrete floor. The pistol went skittering across the slick, wet tiles.
Dana was on top of him in an instant, driving a devastating elbow into his jaw that knocked him cold. She snatched up the dropped pistol, checking the magazine with a practiced, lightning-fast flick of her thumb.
""We have to move. Now,"" Dana panted, grabbing my arm and yanking me forward down the emergency stairwell.
We burst out into the rear alleyway of the precinct just as a heavy downpour turned the pavement into a mirror of neon lights. Police cruisers were scrambling out of the front gates with sirens wailing, responding to the explosion in the basement.
Before we could reach the cover of the parking lot, a black armored SUV roared around the corner of the alley, its high beams blinding us instantly. The passenger side window rolled down, and a familiar face leaned out into the rain.
It was David.
His hair was soaked, his expensive suit ruined, and his eyes were wild, devoid of any humanity or warmth I had ever known. He held a heavy-duty encrypted satellite phone in one hand.
""Chloe! Get in the car right now, or I swear to God you'll never see Ava again!"" David screamed over the roar of the engine.
I stopped dead in my tracks, my blood turning to ice. ""Where is my daughter, David? What did you do with Ava?""
David gave a cold, terrifying smile that didn't reach his eyes. He raised his left hand, tapping the screen of his satellite phone. A live video feed popped up on his display, showing Ava sitting upright in her hospital bed in Trauma Bay 3. Standing beside her IV pole wasn't a nurse or a police officer, but a masked man holding a sterile medical syringe filled with a dark, amber liquid.
""She's resting comfortably,"" David said smoothly, his voice dropping into a chilling corporate monotone. ""And she'll keep resting right there... unless you get in this SUV right now, hand over the physical hard drive and the manila folder, and sign the global asset forfeiture waiver releasing all trust funds to Vanguard Holdings.""
Dana raised the stolen pistol, aiming directly through the windshield at David's chest. Her finger tightened on the trigger, the hammer pulling back with a lethal click.
""Pull the trigger, D,"" I whispered, tears mixing with the rain on my face. ""Shoot him.""
Dana stared through the glass, her eyes locked on David's. But before she could fire, David pressed a button on his console, and a red warning light flashed on his screen.
May you like
""Go ahead, MMA fighter,"" David taunted through the open window, laughing maniacally as thunder cracked overhead. ""If you shoot me, the remote trigger goes to my associate inside the hospital. Ava gets a permanent dirt nap before you can even cross the intersection. Your move, Chloe.""
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