Chapter 4 - Into the Dark
The elevator began a terrifying, rapid freefall.
Leah screamed as her stomach dropped, clinging desperately to the metal handrail.
Gabriel remained entirely calm, pulling a tactical knife from his boot.
He jammed the thick steel blade directly into the seam of the elevator doors.
Using his uninjured arm, he pried the doors apart just enough to expose the concrete elevator shaft.
“Grab my waist!” Gabriel commanded over the screeching of the failing brakes.
Leah wrapped her arms tightly around his torso, burying her face into his ruined shirt.
Gabriel timed it perfectly.
As the elevator blew past the ground floor, he leaped through the narrow gap.
They slammed hard onto a maintenance catwalk, the metal grating bruising Leah’s ribs.
A second later, the elevator car crashed into the sub-basement with a deafening, metallic explosion.
A plume of thick black smoke billowed up the shaft, choking them both.
“Are you hurt?” Gabriel asked, coughing as he pulled Leah to her feet.
“I am fine, but they are going to know we survived that,” Leah gasped, rubbing her bruised side.
Gabriel nodded, leading her down a narrow, pitch-black utility corridor.
“This tunnel leads to a hidden garage that my grandfather built during prohibition,” Gabriel explained.
“We are going to steal a car and disappear before my men realize I am not dead.”
They moved silently through the damp darkness, the only sound being the distant wail of police sirens.
Leah couldn’t stop thinking about the brass key and her father’s badge number.
“Gabriel, why did your grandfather bury that key with him?” Leah asked quietly.
Gabriel paused near a heavy steel door, punching a code into a rusted keypad.
“Because it opens a vault that contains the true history of the Chicago families,” he said grimly.
The steel door hissed open, revealing a pristine, vintage black Mustang sitting alone in the dark.
“Whoever has that vault controls the entire city, including the police and the politicians.”
Gabriel tossed Leah a set of keys he pulled from a hidden lockbox on the wall.
“You are driving, my arm is useless right now,” he ordered.
Leah slid into the driver’s seat, her hands trembling as she gripped the leather steering wheel.
The powerful engine roared to life, echoing aggressively in the concrete bunker.
Gabriel pressed a button on the dashboard, and a false wall ahead of them slowly raised to reveal an empty alleyway.
Leah slammed her foot on the gas, shooting out into the rainy Chicago night.
She checked the rearview mirror, letting out a sigh of relief when she saw no headlights following them.
“We made it,” Leah whispered, her heart finally slowing down.
Gabriel looked down at the center console, his face draining of all remaining color.
A tiny, red digital light was blinking rapidly near the radio dial.
“Keep driving,” Gabriel said, his voice entirely devoid of hope.
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“Someone planted a live GPS tracker in this car, and it just activated.”
A massive black armored truck suddenly pulled out from a side street, slamming directly into their rear bumper.
