Chapter 6 - The Setup
The black SUV idled in the driveway with its dark tinted windows obscuring the passengers.
I grabbed Danny by the shoulder and pulled him away from the front window.
"We have to get out of here right now," I warned him.
Danny shook his head and pointed toward the back door of the kitchen.
"I cannot run, Commander, but I have a secure panic room in the basement."
"My father built it after the crash because he started receiving anonymous death threats."
We moved quickly down the narrow wooden stairs into the dark basement.
Danny punched a code into a hidden keypad behind a bookshelf.
A heavy steel door slid open silently, revealing a small, fortified communication hub.
We stepped inside and locked the massive door just as the front door of the house was kicked open.
Heavy tactical boots pounded against the hardwood floors directly above our heads.
I watched the security camera feed on the monitor mounted to the wall.
Captain Miller walked into the living room holding a suppressed pistol.
He was not acting like a military officer conducting a legal arrest.
He was moving like a highly trained assassin looking to eliminate a target.
Two mercenaries dragged Miles Kerr into the room and threw him onto the floor.
Miles was bleeding from a deep cut above his eye, but he remained defiant.
"Where is she, Miles?" Miller demanded coldly.
"I do not know what you are talking about," Miles spat back.
Miller pointed his weapon directly at the older man's head.
"We tracked her burner phone signal to this exact neighborhood."
"If you do not hand over the flash drive, I will burn this house down with your son inside."
I pulled the flash drive from my pocket and looked at Danny.
"I cannot let him kill your father," I whispered.
Danny grabbed my wrist with surprising strength.
"If you give them that drive, they will kill all three of us anyway."
Danny rolled his wheelchair toward the communication console.
"I have a direct, encrypted satellite link to a trusted admiral at Naval Air Station Oceana."
"Plug the drive in, and I will initiate a massive file dump across the secure network."
I inserted the drive into the port and watched as the progress bar slowly began to fill.
Suddenly, a loud drilling sound echoed from the steel door of the panic room.
Miller had found the hidden entrance, and his men were cutting through the lock with a thermal torch.
Sparks flew into the small room as the metal began to glow a bright, cherry red.
The file transfer was only at fifty percent completion.
"Hold the line, Danny," I ordered.
May you like
I grabbed a heavy wrench from the tool bench and stood directly beside the melting door.
The heavy steel hinges finally gave way, and the door crashed inward.
