Chapter 16 - The Decoy
The heavy bullets struck David directly in the chest, violently throwing him backward into the darkness.
At the exact same moment, the silver lighter hit the edge of the gasoline pool, instantly igniting a massive, roaring wall of fire.
The flames shot up toward the ceiling, creating a terrifying ring of fire completely surrounding Chloe.
I screamed and sprinted directly toward the inferno, ignoring the blistering heat radiating against my skin.
Jax ran past me, violently kicking a heavy wooden pallet directly over the flames to create a temporary bridge.
I ran across the burning wood, throwing myself onto Chloe and furiously ripping the thick tape off her mouth.
I used my pocket knife to slash through the heavy zip ties binding her wrists and ankles.
We practically dragged her across the burning pallet just seconds before the wood collapsed completely into the fire.
We fell onto the cold concrete floor, coughing violently as the thick, toxic black smoke filled the warehouse.
"We have to get out of here right now!" Jax yelled, grabbing Chloe's arm to pull her toward the loading dock.
I turned around to look at the spot where David had fallen, desperately hoping to see his lifeless body.
Instead, I saw a heavy tactical bulletproof vest lying on the ground, completely covered in fresh bullet holes.
David had intentionally worn heavy armor, knowing Jax would immediately aim for his center mass.
A terrifying, mechanical grinding noise suddenly echoed from the heavy metal doors at the front of the warehouse.
The massive steel shutters slammed aggressively shut, completely sealing us inside the burning building.
A loudspeaker mounted on the ceiling crackled to life, broadcasting David's sinister, mocking voice over the roar of the flames.
"You brought a bodyguard to a game of chess, Elena," David laughed cruelly.
"I didn't bring you here to kill you in a fire, I brought you here to completely erase you from the map."
He explained that the entire structural foundation of the slaughterhouse was wired with heavy industrial explosives.
He had framed the entire setup to look like a tragic gas leak explosion, perfectly wiping out the only witnesses left against Mark.
"You have exactly sixty seconds to make your peace," David taunted before the loudspeaker cut off permanently.
Jax immediately pulled a heavy breaching charge from his tactical vest, sprinting toward the reinforced steel loading dock door.
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He frantically slapped the explosive putty onto the locking mechanism, yelling at us to get down behind the concrete pillar.
"Cover your ears and open your mouths!" Jax screamed, gripping the digital detonator.
