Chapter 5 - The Trap Closes
The silence that followed Brenda’s words was heavy enough to crush bone.
Matthew didn't shout. He didn't panic. He just stood completely still behind his mahogany desk, his jaw locked so tight a muscle ticked violently in his cheek. But the look in his slate-gray eyes was so dark, so cold and lethal, that even Nurse Brenda took an involuntary step back toward the door.
"How long ago?" Matthew asked, his voice dropping into a low, dangerous register that I had never heard before.
"Less than two minutes," Brenda answered, her breath coming in shallow gasps. "Security locked the primary elevators, but they've already breached the service stairwell on the south side. They're moving up, Dr. Sullivan. They know she's here."
Matthew spun around, his long strides taking him across the office to a hidden wall panel beside the bookshelves. He pressed his thumb against a biometric scanner set into the wood. With a soft, pneumatic hiss, a concealed steel compartment slid open, revealing a heavy, matte-black tactical shotgun and a box of heavy-duty shells.
I sat frozen in the giant leather chair, my hands gripping the armrests so hard my knuckles turned white. The word Syndicate didn't mean much to me in terms of crime syndicates or mob bosses, but I knew the tone of voice Matthew was using. It was the tone of a man who knew he was walking into a war zone.
"Daddy?" I whispered, the word slipping out before I could stop it.
Matthew stopped mid-motion, his hand resting on the stock of the shotgun. He turned his head slowly, looking back at me with an expression that broke my heart—fear, fierce love, and absolute, unyielding resolve all tangled together.
"Sarah," he said, his voice softening instantly as he dropped the weapon back into the safe and slammed the panel shut. He hurried back across the room and knelt right in front of my chair, taking my small hands in his. "Listen to me very carefully. Do you trust me?"
I nodded rapidly, tears pricking the corners of my eyes. "Yes."
"I need you to be the bravest girl in the entire world right now," he instructed, his eyes locked onto mine with terrifying intensity. "Brenda is going to take you down to the secure underground loading dock. There's a private ambulance waiting there with my most trusted head of security. He's going to drive you and your mother out of the city—far away, to a place where nobody from the Syndicate will ever find you."
"What about you?" My voice broke, a sob catching in my throat. "You're not coming with us?"
"I have to stay and clean up a mess I should have finished ten years ago," he said, pressing a warm, lingering kiss to my forehead. He pulled back, his hands resting on my shoulders. "I have to protect your mother, and I have to protect you. The only way I can do that is by drawing them away."
"No!" I cried out, sliding off the chair and wrapping my arms around his neck, burying my face in his blue shirt. "Don't stay! Come with us! We can all go together!"
Matthew wrapped his arms around me, holding me so tightly I could feel the rapid, heavy beating of his heart against my chest. For a second, just a single second, he buried his face in my hair, his shoulders shaking with a silent, desperate grief.
"I love you, Sarah," he whispered fiercely, his voice cracking. "Tell your mother... tell her I'm sorry I couldn't save us sooner. But I'll finish this. I swear to God, I'll finish this."
Before I could answer, a loud, violent bang echoed down the hallway outside the office, followed by the shattering of glass and the sharp, unmistakable sound of a gunshot.
Brenda gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. "They're on this floor! They bypassed the security doors!"
Matthew stood up in a single fluid motion, scooping my cardboard box off the desk and shoving it into Brenda's arms along with a heavy set of brass keys.
"Take her through the private laboratory corridor," Matthew ordered, his voice ringing with absolute command. "Do not stop for anything. If anyone tries to block the exit, use the emergency override code on the keypad: Nine-zero-four-two."
"Dr. Sullivan—Matthew—you can't fight them alone," Brenda pleaded, tears streaming down her face.
"I'm not alone," he said darkly.
He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a heavy, steel-barreled pistol, checking the slide with practiced, lethal precision. Then he turned, walked to the office door, and stepped out into the hallway, pulling the heavy oak door shut behind him with a solid, echoing click.
"Come on, Sarah!" Brenda cried out, grabbing my hand with a desperate grip. "We have to move!"
I let her pull me toward the back exit of the office, but just as the heavy metal fire door began to slide open, I looked back one last time at the closed oak door of my father's office.
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From the hallway outside came the sharp, thunderous roar of a gunshot, followed by the sound of breaking glass and shouting voices.
The trap had closed. And my father had just walked right into the jaws of the wolf.
