Chapter 5
The armored SUV slammed to a halt outside the rear loading dock of Mercy Northside Hospital.
The police barricades at the front entrance were flashing with aggressive blue and red lights, distracted by the fake bomb threat. The rear alley, however, was eerily deserted.
“Stay close to me,” August ordered, his weapon drawn and held tight against his side.
Meredith nodded, her grip white-knuckled around her phone. She had been trying to reach Dr. Aris for ten minutes, but every call went straight to voicemail.
They slipped through the heavy metal service doors, moving rapidly through the dark, chaotic corridors. Emergency lights flickered, casting long, unsettling shadows across the linoleum. Nurses were frantically rushing patients toward the lower levels, the lack of power turning the modern hospital into a terrifying, primitive nightmare.
August led them directly to the executive wing on the third floor.
The hospital director, a slick, perpetually sweating man named Charles Vance, was frantically packing a leather briefcase in his office when August kicked the door open.
Vance jumped, dropping a stack of files. “Vantress! You can't be in here! The building is under federal lockdown!”
“I am the lockdown,” August snarled, crossing the room in three massive strides. He grabbed Vance by the collar, slamming him against the mahogany bookshelf. “Where did you send the donor heart, Charles?”
Vance choked, his eyes darting frantically toward Meredith. “I… I didn't! The proxy transfer was signed by you! I was just following standard legal procedure!”
“It was a forgery!” Meredith yelled, stepping forward, the fear completely gone, replaced by a fierce, protective rage. “You know Howerin forged it! You rerouted my sister’s heart to his private clinic!”
“I had no choice!” Vance sobbed, the cowardly facade crumbling instantly under August’s terrifying grip. “Howerin threatened to ruin me! He has photographs, August! If I didn't sign off on the transport, he was going to destroy my family!”
“He’s going to destroy mine tonight,” August promised, his voice dropping to a deadly whisper. “Where is the transport van?”
“It… it hasn't left yet,” Vance confessed, pointing a trembling finger toward the window. “The storm and the police barricades delayed it. Dr. Aris is downstairs in the holding bay, trying to stop Howerin’s men from loading the cooler into the van!”
Meredith’s heart leaped. Dr. Aris wasn't corrupt. He was fighting for Lily.
“If my sister dies because of your cowardice, Charles,” Meredith said coldly, looking the director dead in the eye, “I won't let August kill you. I’ll ruin you myself.”
They left Vance trembling on the floor and sprinted for the stairwell.
They took the stairs down to the subterranean loading bay three at a time. As they pushed through the heavy fire doors, the sound of a violent struggle echoed off the concrete walls.
Dr. Aris, a brilliant but physically slight surgeon in his fifties, was bleeding from a cut on his forehead, desperately clinging to a red medical cooler. Three of Howerin’s armed mercenaries were trying to tear it from his grasp.
“Let go of it, doc!” one of the mercenaries barked, raising the butt of his rifle to strike the surgeon again.
“It belongs to my patient!” Aris shouted fiercely, refusing to release the handle.
“Drop him,” August commanded his guards.
Silas and two of August’s men moved with terrifying precision. Three suppressed shots echoed in rapid succession. The mercenaries dropped to the concrete, immobilized by non-lethal shots to their knees and shoulders.
Dr. Aris collapsed backward, clutching the red cooler to his chest, gasping for breath.
“Dr. Aris!” Meredith cried, rushing forward and dropping to her knees beside him. “Are you okay?”
“Meredith,” the surgeon breathed, looking up at her with profound relief. “I have it. I have the heart.”
“We need to move,” August said, his eyes scanning the dark garage for more threats. “Howerin will realize the transport failed. We have to get Lily to the basement surgical wing.”
“I already sent her there,” a weak, trembling voice echoed from the shadows behind a parked ambulance.
Meredith spun around.
Stepping out into the dim emergency lighting, clutching her side with a bloody hand, was Brenda.
“Brenda!” Meredith gasped, horrified by the sight of her friend.
Brenda stumbled forward, tears streaming down her pale, sweat-slicked face. “I couldn't let them take her, Mere. I’m so sorry about the gala. I was so scared for Tommy. But when Howerin’s men came to the pediatric wing to grab Lily… I couldn't let them do it.”
“You moved her?” August asked, moving quickly to support the injured woman.
“I used my master keycard,” Brenda groaned in pain. “I took her down the old laundry elevator to the abandoned basement wing, just like you told me about during our coffee breaks. Odessa Vane’s men helped me carry the battery packs.”
Meredith felt a sob tear from her throat. Brenda hadn't betrayed her entirely. When it mattered most, she had risked her life to protect Lily.
“You’re bleeding,” Meredith said, pressing her hands over the dark stain on Brenda’s uniform.
“One of Howerin’s guys caught me coming back up,” Brenda gasped, her knees buckling. “He shot me. But I locked the heavy blast doors from the inside. They can't get to her.”
Brenda reached into her pocket with a trembling, bloodstained hand and pulled out a heavy, antique brass key.
“This is the manual override for the blast doors,” Brenda whispered, pressing it into Meredith’s palm. “Howerin doesn't want Odessa’s seat on the council, Meredith. He lied to you.”
May you like
August frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I heard them talking on their radios,” Brenda coughed, her eyes fluttering shut as she lost consciousness. “He doesn't want the council. He wants what’s inside Vault 4.”
