Chapter 9 - The Escape
Blind panic clawed at my throat as I stared in horror at the flashing red numbers ticking away our final moments.
Lucas didn't waste a single second panicking, instantly shifting into a mode of absolute, calculated focus.
He rushed over to the massive, pressurized oxygen tanks where the military-grade explosives were tightly strapped.
He frantically traced the complex web of colored wires running from the explosive charges to the digital timer.
I ran as fast as my injured body would allow over to Courtney and began untying the thick ropes binding her to the chair.
She fell to her knees the moment she was free, sobbing hysterically and begging for forgiveness for everything she had done.
I grabbed her roughly by the collar of her designer blouse and dragged her forcefully toward the heavy metal exit door.
The glowing red timer mercilessly ticked down to exactly twenty seconds.
Lucas pulled a sharp tactical pocket knife from the belt loop of his jeans and flicked the blade open.
He had to sever the correct connection to the main power source without accidentally triggering the tamper-proof failsafe mechanism.
The digital clock dropped to ten agonizing seconds.
I stood frozen in the open doorway, absolutely refusing to leave the basement without my husband.
He looked back at me over his shoulder, his dark eyes filled with a heartbreaking mixture of absolute terror and profound love.
The timer hit exactly five seconds.
With a steady hand, he sliced cleanly through the thick blue wire hidden beneath the main cluster.
The digital timer instantly froze, its glowing red numbers halting permanently at exactly three seconds.
The heavy silence in the basement was infinitely heavier than the pressure at the bottom of the ocean.
I collapsed heavily against the cold steel doorframe, gasping desperately for air as tears streamed down my face.
Suddenly, the concrete stairwell above us echoed with the deafening sound of heavy combat boots descending rapidly.
A heavily armed FBI tactical team swarmed into the basement with their assault rifles drawn and flashlights piercing the dark.
They immediately slapped heavy steel cuffs on the unconscious Charles and the violently trembling Courtney.
May you like
A stern man in a windbreaker approached Lucas, lowering his weapon and patting my husband familiarly on the shoulder.
The federal agent looked at Lucas and addressed him by a completely different name.
