Chapter 5 - The Flight from the Clinic
The state police officers leveled their assault rifles at Sebastián, their fingers resting on the trigger guards.
"Hands on your head, Alcázar! Do not move!" the police captain shouted over the blaring alarm klaxons.
Sebastián stood tall, placing his body squarely between the officers' guns and his wife and newborn child.
"These men are on my family's private payroll, Captain!" Sebastián shouted back.
"Check the emergency registry before you execute a civilian in a maternity ward!"
Before the police captain could reply, the sprinkler system overhead burst to life, showering the room in blinding, freezing water.
Luciana had pulled the manual fire suppression valve behind the door frame.
In the blinding chaos of spraying water and screaming alarms, Sebastián grabbed the rolling gurney carrying Valeria and baby Mateo.
"Run for the service ramp!" Sebastián yelled to Luciana.
Sebastián pushed the heavy gurney through the rear exit door into the industrial laundry chute corridor.
Octavio fired the shotgun, the blast chewing through the wooden doorframe inches above Sebastián's shoulder.
They reached the subterranean loading dock where hospital waste trucks were lined up.
Sebastián spotted his private black SUV parked near the loading bay, its engine idling.
Standing by the driver's door was Tomás, the family’s veteran chauffeur who had served Sebastián’s father for thirty years.
"Get in, young master!" Tomás shouted, swinging the heavy rear passenger door open.
Sebastián lifted Valeria and the baby into the leather seats, while Luciana jumped in beside them.
Sebastián dove into the front passenger seat just as three police cruisers screeched down the concrete ramp.
Tomás slammed the accelerator to the floor, the heavy tires smoking against the slick concrete before launching up the ramp.
The SUV smashed through the plastic security gate and roared out into the rainy Monterrey midnight.
Behind them, the flashing red and blue lights of five pursuit vehicles illuminated the heavy downpour.
Valeria clutched little Mateo against her chest, her breathing shallow and her pulse fluttering weakly.
"Sebastián... they have checkpoints on every highway leading to Texas," Valeria whispered, her lips pale blue.
Sebastián looked into the rearview mirror, his eyes narrowing into slits of pure determination.
May you like
"We aren't going to Texas, Valeria," Sebastián said, gripping the brass vault key in his pocket.
"We are going into the heart of the beast to take back what my father left us."
