Chapter 5 - The Escape Route
Panic surged through Gideon’s veins, cold and sharp. He looked at the unconscious woman on the bed, then at the sealed window overlooking the snowy hospital courtyard three stories below.
If those men breached Room 412, the woman wouldn't stand a chance. And if they realized the little girl who had witnessed whatever secret her mother was hiding was currently sleeping safely in a secure pediatric ward two floors up, Norah would become their next target.
Through the crack in the door, Gideon heard the nurse let out a sharp gasp, followed by a muffled thump as if someone had been shoved against the wall.
“Don't make this messy,” the scar-faced man hissed in the hallway. “Where’s the kid? Where did she take the drive?”
The drive.
The words echoed in Gideon’s mind. A data drive. A secret someone was willing to kill a mother and hunt a seven-year-old child across the freezing streets of Chicago to recover.
The door handle of Room 412 began to turn. Slowly. Deliberately.
Gideon spun around, his eyes locking on the heavy medical cart beside the bed. Without a sound, he grabbed a heavy steel oxygen canister from the rack, hefting it into his arms.
The door clicked open. The barrel of a silenced pistol poked through the gap, followed by the dark sleeve of an overcoat.
Gideon didn't wait for them to step fully inside. With a surge of adrenaline, he swung the heavy steel cylinder sideways, smashing it directly into the wooden door with bone-shattering force.
A sharp curse echoed from the hallway as the door slammed backward, crushing the intruder’s hand against the doorframe.
“Security! Code silver, ICU wing!” Gideon roared at the top of his lungs, pressing his full body weight against the door to lock it from the inside just as the second man threw his shoulder against the wood from the outside.
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The door groaned, the heavy lock rattling in its housing under the impact.
Gideon didn't look back. He sprinted to the bed, grabbed the rolling chart stand, and wedged it beneath the door handle. Then, he rushed to the adjoining private bathroom, threw open the window, and looked out into the freezing night air, knowing the real war had just begun.
