Chapter 5 - The Trap is Sprung
I threw my hands over my face to block the blinding light.
The roar of an engine filled the narrow alleyway.
A police cruiser was blocking our only exit.
Two officers stepped out, their weapons drawn.
“Hands in the air!” one of them shouted.
Dominic didn’t hesitate.
He pulled me behind a large metal dumpster just as bullets sparked against the brick wall.
The deafening sound of gunfire made me scream.
I pressed my hands over my ears.
Dominic fired two precise shots back.
One of the headlights shattered, plunging half the alley into darkness.
“These aren’t real cops,” Dominic yelled over the noise.
“They are Reynolds’ hitmen in uniform!”
He grabbed my hand.
“We have to go through the sewers.”
He dragged me toward a heavy iron grate in the pavement.
With a massive heave, he lifted it open.
The smell of damp earth and decay hit me.
“Climb down the ladder,” he ordered.
I didn’t argue.
I descended into the darkness, my hands slipping on the rusty rungs.
Dominic followed, pulling the heavy grate shut right before the hitmen reached us.
We waded through ankle-deep water in total silence.
My heart was beating so fast it physically hurt.
“Are you injured?” Dominic whispered in the dark.
“No,” I replied breathlessly.
“I’m just terrified.”
He reached out and found my hand in the pitch black.
His grip was warm and surprisingly gentle.
“I will not let them hurt you,” he promised.
We walked for what felt like hours through the labyrinth of tunnels.
Finally, we reached a rusted iron door leading up to the street level.
Dominic pushed it open slowly.
We emerged two blocks away from St. Catherine’s Hospital.
The emergency room entrance was glowing in the night.
“We need to get to your locker,” Dominic said.
“Reynolds might already have whatever is inside,” I warned.
“Reynolds is arrogant,” Dominic replied.
“He thinks he has time.”
We snuck through the loading dock doors using my employee keycard.
The hospital corridors were quiet during the night shift.
We reached the staff locker room.
I punched in the code to the door.
We stepped inside, and I rushed to locker 402.
I opened it and sighed in relief.
My spare scrubs and shoes were untouched.
“What did Mark leave here?” Dominic asked.
I reached into the pocket of my old winter coat.
My fingers brushed against a cold, metallic key.
I pulled it out.
It was a safety deposit box key from First National Bank.
Suddenly, the locker room door clicked shut and locked from the outside.
The lights flickered and died.
May you like
A slow, mocking applause echoed in the pitch-black room.
“I knew you would come here, Sarah,” Detective Reynolds whispered from the dark.
