Chapter 5 - The Extraction
Gabriel pulled a sharp tactical knife from his boot without a second thought.
He gently held Lily's small arm and promised her that this would only hurt for a second.
With precise, steady hands, he sliced through the thick plastic of the hospital bracelet.
He pulled out a tiny, blinking metal chip and crushed it instantly beneath his heavy boot.
He informed me that we had to abandon the stolen car immediately before Silas’s men tracked the final signal.
We ran through the cold rain for several blocks until we found a cheap, rundown motel.
Gabriel paid the terrified clerk with a massive stack of wet hundred-dollar bills.
We locked ourselves inside a dingy room that smelled strongly of bleach and old smoke.
I wrapped Lily in a thin towel and sat with her on the edge of the lumpy mattress.
To my absolute shock, Lily pointed to a package of stale crackers resting on the dusty nightstand.
I carefully opened the plastic and handed her a small piece.
She ate the cracker slowly, taking her very first bite of food in four terrifying days.
Gabriel watched us from the window, his hard expression softening into something incredibly vulnerable.
He quietly thanked me for keeping his daughter alive when everyone else had completely failed.
For a brief moment, the terrifying mafia war faded away, leaving just three exhausted people in a quiet room.
I looked into Gabriel’s eyes and felt an undeniable, magnetic pull toward this dangerous man.
Suddenly, the harsh ringing of my cell phone shattered the fragile peace.
The caller ID showed Vivian Chase, the staffing agent who had originally hired me.
I answered the phone with trembling hands, fearing the worst.
Vivian was crying hysterically on the other end of the line.
She confessed that she had been brutally blackmailed by Celeste to place me in the penthouse.
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Then, she delivered the most terrifying news I had ever heard in my entire life.
Silas's men had just stormed the hospital and violently abducted my mother from her bed.
