Chapter 7 - The Downward Spiral
Gabriel raised his silver pistol and aimed it directly at Mr. Hayes's chest without a single ounce of hesitation.
"Hand over my son and the little rat, or the lawyer dies right here," Gabriel demanded coldly.
The hospital hallway was completely deserted as the rest of the staff had already evacuated from the fake fire alarm.
Mr. Hayes stepped bravely in front of Clara, shielding her and the terrified children with his own body.
"You are a pathetic coward, Gabriel, and your entire illegal conspiracy is on a flash drive in my pocket," the lawyer bluffed.
Gabriel's arrogant smile faltered for a fraction of a second, but his eyes grew incredibly dark and murderous.
"Then I will just peel it off your dead body," Gabriel sneered, placing his finger firmly on the heavy trigger.
Before he could fire the lethal shot, a massive explosion of shattered glass erupted from the hallway window.
A man dressed entirely in dark tactical gear swung into the corridor on a heavy grappling rope.
He forcefully kicked Gabriel directly in the chest, sending the corrupt husband crashing onto the polished floor.
The silver pistol skidded wildly across the tiles, entirely out of Gabriel's desperate reach.
The mysterious man stood up quickly, raising a heavily modified assault rifle toward the open elevator.
"Move down the stairs right now, I will cover your escape!" the stranger yelled with a deep, commanding voice.
Clara did not wait to ask questions; she dragged Violet and Mr. Hayes directly into the dark emergency stairwell.
They ran down three flights of concrete stairs, their breathing echoing loudly in the enclosed space.
When they finally burst through the heavy metal doors into the underground parking garage, they found a black armored SUV waiting.
The stranger who had saved them bounded down the stairs moments later and quickly unlocked the heavy vehicle.
"Get in the back and stay completely out of sight," he ordered as he jumped into the driver's seat.
Clara held her baby tightly as the heavy SUV tore out of the parking garage at a terrifying speed.
"Who are you, and why are you helping us?" Mr. Hayes asked, completely breathless from the frantic escape.
The man looked in the rearview mirror, his rugged face illuminated by the passing streetlights.
"My name is Detective Miller, and I have been entirely hunting Samantha Drake for the last five years," he revealed.
He explained that Samantha was a black widow who had orchestrated illegal adoptions and stolen inheritances across three states.
Miller had been completely disgraced and fired from the police force when he tried to expose her massive criminal syndicate.
"I have a safe house outside the city limits where we can finally leak your USB drive to the federal authorities," Miller promised.
Clara finally let out a massive sigh of relief, believing the terrifying nightmare was almost over.
But as the armored SUV merged onto the dark highway, Miller's dashboard radio suddenly crackled to life.
May you like
Samantha's cruel, taunting voice echoed through the vehicle's speakers.
"Did you really think I wouldn't put a GPS tracker on my own stepdaughter's favorite stuffed rabbit?" she laughed.
