Chapter 2 - The Industrial Trap
I struck the deputy across the temple, knocking him instantly unconscious.
We threw the corrupted officers into the back of their own cruisers and locked the doors.
Miller took the wheel of the lead car, while Hayes and Carter jumped into the second.
I rode shotgun with Miller, my eyes glued to the glowing tracking map on the stolen laptop.
The rain was coming down in sheets, washing the neon lights of the city into a dizzying blur.
We sped toward the abandoned industrial district at ninety miles an hour.
No sirens wailed, and no emergency lights flashed.
We moved in complete silence, acting like a pack of wolves hunting in the dark.
The red dot on the screen finally stopped moving near an old, rotting meatpacking plant.
Miller killed the headlights as we rolled through the rusted iron gates of the facility.
The private ambulance was parked near a loading dock, its rear doors hanging wide open.
I drew my sidearm and stepped out into the freezing downpour.
We approached the vehicle with absolute tactical precision, covering every possible angle.
I peered inside the back of the ambulance, my heart pounding violently against my ribs.
The stretcher was empty, but the white sheets were stained with fresh blood.
Emily was not here.
Suddenly, a cell phone resting on the bloody stretcher lit up and began to ring.
I climbed inside the ambulance and pressed the phone to my ear.
"I told you to come do something about it, soldier," Cameron Voss whispered through the speaker.
"Where is she?" I demanded, my voice deadly calm.
"Oh, she's perfectly safe, but you are standing in a very dangerous place," he laughed.
The line went dead, and a digital timer on the phone's screen appeared, counting down from five seconds.
I screamed for my team to run and dove out the back of the ambulance.
A massive explosion ripped through the night, launching the heavy vehicle into the air.
The shockwave threw me hard against the wet concrete of the loading dock.
My ears rang with a deafening pitch as a thick cloud of black smoke engulfed the courtyard.
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Through the burning wreckage, the blinding beams of tactical flashlights pierced the smoke.
Dozens of heavily armed mercenaries were stepping out of the shadows, surrounding us completely.
