Chapter 7 - The Ticking Clock
I did not waste a single second listening to her insane laughter.
I dragged Jessica up by her uninjured arm and shoved her toward the basement door.
I told her she was going to walk down those stairs with me.
If the bomb went off, we were all going to burn together.
Jessica's laughter stopped instantly.
Genuine panic flashed across her cold eyes for the first time tonight.
She quickly reached into her pocket and pulled out a heavy ring of brass keys.
She pointed a shaking finger toward the steel door at the end of the hall.
I threw her roughly to the floor and sprinted down the narrow basement stairs.
The basement was entirely dark except for a single swinging bulb near the back wall.
I found Emily tied to a metal chair.
She was gagged with heavy tape and staring at a digital timer wired to a stack of explosives.
The red numbers were counting down fast.
There were exactly two minutes and ten seconds left.
I ripped the tape off her mouth and began cutting through her thick plastic restraints.
Emily cried and told me to run away and save myself.
I ignored her and focused on freeing her ankles.
I pulled her out of the chair and carried her up the wooden stairs.
We burst into the living room just as Michael took his final, rattling breath on the floor.
Jessica was already crawling desperately toward the shattered window trying to escape.
I grabbed Emily's hand and pulled her out the front door into the pouring rain.
We ran across the expansive lawn as fast as our legs could carry us.
We threw ourselves into the deep, muddy ditch near the perimeter fence.
The explosion shook the earth with terrifying force.
A massive ball of orange fire erupted from the basement, consuming the entire mansion.
The heat washed over our backs like a physical wave.
We lay in the mud for several minutes as burning debris rained down around us.
I finally sat up and checked Emily for any serious injuries.
She was covered in mud and shivering violently, but she was alive.
I pulled my phone from my pocket and dialed Detective Miller.
I needed to call in the fire department and report the massive cartel explosion.
The phone rang three times before it connected.
I spoke quickly, telling Miller to send every unit he had to the coastal estate.
A voice answered the phone, but it was not Miller.
May you like
The strange, raspy voice chuckled darkly through the speaker.
The voice told me Miller could not come to the phone right now because Miller worked for them.
