Chapter 5 - The Race Against Time
Panic surged through Marcus’s veins like pure liquid adrenaline. Sarah and Lily were trapped in the narrow ventilation shaft directly above his head, slowly suffocating to death. “Turn the gas off, Diana!” Marcus roared into the phone, his voice echoing violently off the steel walls. “Sign the digital transfer of your company to my personal server right now,” Diana demanded calmly. “You have exactly three minutes before they both lose consciousness forever.” An email notification popped up on the black smartphone, displaying a legally binding contract. All it required was Marcus’s biometric thumbprint to authorize the complete transfer of his billion-dollar empire. Marcus knew that the moment he signed away his wealth, Diana would simply kill all three of them anyway. He needed to find a way to vent the toxic gas immediately. Marcus dropped the phone and frantically searched the elevator car for any type of heavy tool. He found a rusted iron pry bar hidden beneath a pile of old moving blankets. He wedged the heavy iron bar into the crack of the elevator doors and pulled with all his might. His muscles screamed in agony as the reinforced steel doors slowly began to slide apart. Through the gap, he could see the massive exhaust fan that regulated the airflow for the entire underground subway station. But the fan was completely powered down. Marcus squeezed through the narrow opening and sprinted toward the main electrical breaker box on the tunnel wall. He smashed the glass cover with the pry bar and desperately flipped all the heavy industrial switches. The massive turbine fan groaned loudly and roared to life, sucking the toxic air out of the ventilation system in seconds. Marcus ran back to the elevator and climbed up to the ceiling hatch. He ripped the metal plate open and pulled a gasping Sarah and a crying Lily down into the safety of the elevator car. Sarah collapsed into his arms, coughing violently but thankfully still breathing. “You saved us,” Sarah cried, holding Lily tightly to her chest. Suddenly, the screeching sound of heavily armored vehicles echoed down the long concrete tunnel. Headlights cut through the darkness, illuminating the terrified faces of Marcus and his reunited family. Two heavily armored tactical trucks screeched to a halt just inches from the elevator doors. But the men who stepped out were not wearing the uniforms of Diana’s mercenaries. They were wearing the official windbreakers of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. And the lead agent pointed a shotgun directly at Marcus's head.
