Chapter 8 - The Hidden Drive
I had ten minutes to save hundreds of innocent patients.
I looked at Harper, who had just run into the hospital room completely out of breath.
I ordered her to stay by Violet's bed and lock the heavy wooden door.
I desperately needed to find out what Violet had done with the data drive.
I remembered the crushed birthday card envelope I had seen next to her backpack in our hallway.
I had mailed Violet a vintage silver locket from my last deployment overseas.
I ran to the nurse's station and demanded to see the personal belongings recovered from my daughter.
A terrified nurse handed me a clear plastic bag containing Violet's bloody clothes and jewelry.
I ripped the bag open and grabbed the silver locket.
I pried the metal casing open carefully with my pocket knife.
A microscopic micro-SD card fell into the palm of my hand.
Violet had found the drive and hidden it inside the safest thing she owned.
I now had the necessary leverage to stop Vance.
I ran down the emergency stairwell toward the hospital basement.
I found the oxygen supply room locked with a heavy steel chain.
I shot the padlock off and kicked the door completely open.
The room was filled with massive, highly pressurized oxygen tanks.
A brick of C4 explosive was strapped tightly to the primary valve.
The digital timer on the bomb was counting down incredibly fast.
But Vance had lied to me about the generous time limit.
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The glowing red numbers did not show ten minutes.
The timer showed exactly forty-five seconds remaining until detonation.
