Chapter 4 - The Precinct Betrayal
Claire reacted with pure adrenaline and survival instinct.
She grabbed a heavy glass bottle from the trash and swung it upward with all her strength.
The bottle shattered against the suited man's helmet, sending him crashing into the brick wall.
"Run, Leo!" Claire screamed, grabbing his hand tightly.
They sprinted out of the alleyway and merged into the busy afternoon foot traffic.
Claire dragged Leo down into the crowded subway station to lose their pursuers.
They rode the train in complete silence for six agonizing stops.
Claire clutched the tiny microchip in her pocket, knowing it held the key to saving her sister.
They finally emerged near the towering glass building of the central police precinct.
"We are looking for Detective Hayes," Claire told the officer at the front desk.
The officer pointed them toward a secluded office at the very end of the hallway.
Detective Hayes was an older man with graying hair and tired eyes.
He looked up from his messy desk as Claire and Leo walked in and locked the door behind them.
"Maya sent us," Claire said immediately, skipping any introductions.
Hayes stood up slowly, a look of genuine shock washing over his wrinkled face.
"Maya is alive?" Hayes whispered, closing his blinds tightly.
Claire nodded and placed the tiny microchip directly on his desk.
"She hid this in Leo's ribbon, and Julian's men are hunting us for it," Claire explained.
Hayes grabbed a secure laptop from his drawer and inserted the chip.
He typed in a series of passwords while Claire and Leo waited breathlessly.
A video file appeared on the screen and began to play automatically.
It was security footage from a dark, underground medical facility.
The video clearly showed Julian Sterling bribing a group of doctors to keep a woman heavily sedated in a locked cell.
It was absolute, undeniable proof of Julian's horrific crimes.
"This is it," Claire said, feeling a surge of hopeful relief.
"This is enough to put him away forever and get my sister back," she added.
Hayes stared at the screen for a very long time in total silence.
He slowly reached his hand into his desk drawer.
"Yes, it certainly is," Hayes agreed in a low, gravelly voice.
But when Hayes pulled his hand out of the drawer, he was not holding a USB drive.
He was holding a suppressed police-issue handgun.
He pointed the dark barrel directly at Claire's chest.
"I am truly sorry, Claire," Hayes said, his voice devoid of any emotion.
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"But Julian pays far better than the city ever did," the detective confessed.
Leo suddenly screamed and bit down as hard as he could on the detective's wrist.
