Chapter 7 - The Trap in the Dark|
The air in the room turned ice-cold.
Everything suddenly snapped into a terrifying, crystal-clear focus. The car crash hadn't been an attempt to kill me. It had been designed to put me in a controlled environment—a hospital—where my blood could be drawn under the guise of medical treatment.
And when my father moved me to a private, high-security rehabilitation facility, Vance's plan was thwarted. That was why Vance had sent Julian to force me out of the hospital and bring me home, where they could take what they wanted without military security interfering.
"They took blood samples at the hospital," I realized, terror gripping my throat. "During my three weeks in intensive care..."
"Those samples were destroyed," my father said firmly. "The moment I arrived, my team purged the hospital's lab servers and seized every vial. That's why Vance is getting desperate. He knows he's running out of time."
Suddenly, my father's encrypted cell phone vibrated sharply against his hip. He pulled it out, tapped the screen, and placed it on speaker.
"Daniel," Elena's voice came through the speaker, crisp and urgent. "Vance knows Julian failed. He's dispatched a extraction team to your residence. They're four minutes out."
Julian gasped, shrinking back into his chair. "Oh God, they're going to kill us!"
"Shut up, Julian," my father snapped. He looked at Elena. "How many?"
"Four operators. Heavy hardware. They aren't trying to be quiet anymore, Daniel. Vance wants the girl, and he wants her tonight."
My father didn't panic. He reached into his coat pocket, pulled out a small black device, and pressed a button on the side. A subtle, low-frequency hum resonated through the floorboards as secondary reinforced steel shutters began descending over every window in the house.
"Audrey, take the stair lift down to the basement panic room," my father instructed, his voice entirely devoid of fear, replaced by the lethal calm of a seasoned professional. "Lock the door from the inside. Do not open it for anyone except me."
"Dad, I'm not leaving you!" I cried out, grabbing his arm.
He looked at me, his eyes softening for just a fraction of a second. He placed a hand gently against my cheek.
"I lost your mother because I was thirty minutes too late," he whispered softly. "I am not losing you tonight, Audrey. Now go."
He turned to Julian, pulling a secondary handgun from his ankle holster and tossing it onto the floor at Julian's feet.
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"Pick it up, Julian," my father ordered coldly. "You wanted to protect your family? Tonight you're going to stand at the top of those stairs and prove you're a man, or I'll shoot you myself."
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