Chapter 7 - The Desperate Escape
The digital timer on Marcus’s tablet began counting down from sixty.
My mind raced through a million different scenarios, but every single one ended in absolute tragedy.
"Give me the tablet, let me see them closely," I demanded, taking a cautious step forward.
Marcus smirked, holding the device out just far enough to keep me at a distance.
"Forty-five seconds, Arthur," he warned, his finger resting dangerously close to the transmit button on his radio.
I quickly calculated the distance between us, knowing I only had one desperate chance to turn the tables.
"The password is Lauren's maiden name," I said, my voice intentionally shaking to feign complete defeat.
Marcus lowered his guard for a fraction of a second to glance down at his laptop keyboard.
I lunged forward with explosive speed, grabbing his wrist and twisting it violently backward.
The silver revolver fired wildly into the ceiling, the deafening gunshot echoing through the massive warehouse.
I ripped the tablet from his grasp and smashed it directly into his face with all my strength.
Marcus collapsed backward, blood instantly pouring from his shattered nose.
"Run!" I screamed at Annie, grabbing her hand and pulling her toward a narrow maintenance corridor.
The mercenaries opened fire, bullets completely shredding the wooden crates we had been standing next to just seconds before.
We sprinted blindly through the dark, winding hallways of the abandoned facility, the sound of heavy boots chasing right behind us.
I slammed a heavy steel fire door shut and dragged a rusted metal pipe through the handles to lock it.
"Where is the concrete room from the video?" I asked Annie urgently, gasping for breath.
"It’s the old boiler room in the sub-basement of this exact building," she replied, her eyes wide with terror.
We scrambled down a pitch-black concrete stairwell, the heavy fire door above us already bending under the mercenaries' battering ram.
We reached the bottom floor, the heavy scent of gasoline filling the damp air.
I kicked the rusted door of the boiler room open, completely ready to tear the traitorous nanny apart with my bare hands.
But the room was completely empty.
There were no chairs, no gasoline, and absolutely no sign of my children.
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A small speaker mounted on the wall suddenly crackled to life with Marcus's cruel laughter.
"Did you really think I would keep my hostages in the same building as my enemies?" he mocked.
