Chapter 4 - The Medical Emergency
Panic erupted across the crowded hall as my father gasped for air on the hardwood floor.
I rushed to his side and dropped to my knees to check his pulse.
"Call an ambulance right now!" I yelled at the frozen deputies.
Gladys fell to her knees beside me, but she was not looking at her dying husband.
She was desperately trying to snatch the classified folder out of my hands.
I shoved her away so hard she tumbled backward into a folding table.
"Do not touch him, you have done enough damage," I hissed at her.
My father grabbed my wrist with a surprisingly strong grip for a man in cardiac distress.
"Andrea, the safe in the floorboards," he whispered painfully.
"What safe, Dad?" I asked, leaning in closer to hear his struggling voice.
"She locked the real ledgers under the house," he gasped before his eyes rolled back.
The paramedics burst through the front doors and pushed me aside to save his life.
I watched them load my father onto a stretcher, my heart pounding with fear and rage.
The Navy officer placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder.
"We will have federal agents guard him at the hospital," he promised quietly.
I turned around to find Gladys, but she had completely vanished in the chaos.
The Mayor and Chief Miller were also missing from the room.
"They are heading to your father's house to destroy the evidence," I realized with absolute horror.
"My car is parked out back," the officer said, already reaching for his keys.
We sprinted through the kitchen and out into the cool evening air.
I jumped into the passenger seat as he slammed his foot onto the gas pedal.
We tore through the quiet streets of my hometown with the engine roaring loudly.
I pulled out my phone and accessed the satellite feed from my intelligence division.
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"I have two vehicles approaching my father's property right now," I warned him.
We rounded the corner to my childhood street, only to see thick black smoke billowing into the sky.
