Chapter 6 - Unholy Alliance
"Out! Out!" Marcus screamed, throwing his weight against his jammed door.
The thermite charge on the hood hissed loudly, a blinding white flare of heat erupting from the device. The metal hood began to melt like candle wax, white-hot molten steel dripping straight down into the fuel lines below.
"The frame is stuck!" I cried, kicking violently against the passenger door.
A state trooper vaulted over the bridge railing, swinging a heavy metal glass-breaker into my window. The safety glass shattered into thousands of harmless pebbles. Strong hands reached through the frame, grabbing me by my jacket, and pulled me out onto the cold, wet pavement just as flames erupted from under the hood.
A second officer dragged Marcus out from the driver’s side seconds before the front engine bay exploded in a fireball of orange and black smoke.
We were knocked to the ground by the pressure wave, the intense heat scorching the back of my neck.
"Are you hit? Ma'am, are you injured?" the trooper shouted over the roar of the fire.
"I'm fine! I'm fine!" I wheezed, coughing on the chemical smoke. I looked around wildly. "The drive! Marcus, where is the USB drive?"
Marcus was lying on his side, coughing violently, but his hand was tightly clutching his wet leather jacket. He pulled the silver USB drive from his inner pocket, undamaged.
"Got it..." he choked out.
Detective Carter’s unmarked cruiser screeched to a halt beside the scene. He leapt out, looking at the burning wreckage, then at us.
"Get them in my car now!" Carter ordered the officers. "We have to move before Vance’s people realize they didn't finish the job!"
Five minutes later, we were speeding away from the bridge toward a safe location. I sat in the backseat, wrapped in a emergency shock blanket, shivering uncontrollably.
"Who was that man, Carter?" I asked, my voice deadly quiet. "The man with the tattoo on his hand."
Carter looked at me through the rearview mirror, his jaw set firm. "His name is Victor Cole. He’s ex-special forces, currently listed as head of 'Asset Protection' for Vanguard Bio-Tech. He’s Vance’s personal fixer."
"He tried to kill my family," I said, cold fury replacing the terror that had paralyzed me all afternoon. "He put a chemical hose in my daughter's home."
"I know," Carter said grimly. "And right now, Cole is heading toward Blackwood Medical Pavilion where they transferred your husband. I just got word from my contact at the medical examiner's office. Dr. Vance signed papers listing Daniel as 'critically unstable and non-responsive.' They are preparing him for an illegal procedure."
"What kind of procedure?" Marcus asked from the front seat, his face pale.
"They're going to administer a lethal dose of a sedative and claim he died from carbon monoxide complications," Carter replied coldly. "They’re covering their tracks."
I leaned forward between the two front seats. "Then we aren't waiting for warrants, Carter. We are going to Blackwood right now."
"Evelyn, Blackwood is a private fortress," Carter warned. "It’s heavily guarded by private security. I can't launch a full police raid without official approval from the District Attorney, and Vance's attorneys are blocking my requests at every turn."
"I don't care about your warrants!" I yelled, tears of desperate anger burning my eyes. "That's my husband! If we wait for a judge to sign a piece of paper, Daniel will be dead by morning!"
Marcus looked at the silver USB drive in his hand, then looked up at Carter.
"I know how to get inside Blackwood without a warrant," Marcus said quietly.
I turned to Marcus. "How?"
"Vanguard uses an automated security network linked to their central server," Marcus said. "I still have my executive access codes. I can disable the facility's security cameras and internal locks for exactly ten minutes... but I need to be physically connected to their local network terminal outside the perimeter."
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Detective Carter looked at Marcus, then looked at me in the rearview mirror. He reached down beside his seat and pulled out a heavy black tactical vest, tossing it back to me.
"Put it on, Evelyn," Carter said, a grim smile crossing his face. "We have twenty minutes before Daniel’s schedule transfer is completed. Let's go bring your husband home."
