Chapter 8 - The Falling Ledger
"No!" Thorne screamed, lunging toward the glass balcony.
The bodyguard panicked, swinging the sniper rifle away from Evelyn and aiming it directly at Daniel.
Daniel didn't even flinch as he raised his pistol and fired a single shot.
The bullet struck the bodyguard squarely in the shoulder, sending the heavy sniper rifle crashing to the floor.
"Run!" Daniel yelled, grabbing Martin and Sarah by their arms.
They sprinted back out into the marble hallway just as Thorne's remaining guards swarmed out of the side rooms.
Gunfire chewed the expensive walls to pieces, showering them in white plaster dust.
Martin fired back blindly with his rifle, providing covering fire as Daniel slammed the button for the emergency stairwell.
"You just threw our only leverage off a building!" Sarah screamed over the deafening noise.
"I didn't throw the ledger, I threw the shoes!" Daniel shouted back, pulling open the heavy fire door.
They rushed into the stairwell, their footsteps echoing wildly as they bounded down the concrete steps.
"I removed the encrypted microchip from the heel while you were sleeping in the car," Daniel explained breathlessly.
Martin felt a surge of betrayal, realizing Daniel had been playing his own game this entire time.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Martin demanded, panting heavily.
"Because if Thorne knew I had the chip in my pocket, he would have shot you immediately to remove the variables," Daniel answered sharply.
They reached the thirtieth floor when the heavy door above them burst open.
Thorne's mercenaries were pouring into the stairwell, heavily armed and moving fast.
Daniel pulled a small, silver cylinder from his tactical vest and tossed it up the center gap of the staircase.
"Keep moving down!" Daniel ordered, shielding Sarah with his body.
A massive blast of thick, blinding smoke erupted above them, filling the stairwell with an impenetrable gray cloud.
Coughing and stumbling, they finally reached the underground parking garage.
The cold, damp air of the garage was a welcome relief from the suffocating smoke.
They sprinted toward Daniel's armored sedan, which was parked near the exit ramp.
Suddenly, a bright pair of headlights flicked on at the far end of the garage, pinning them in the harsh glare.
A heavily armored SUV roared to life, accelerating rapidly directly toward them.
"Get behind the concrete pillars!" Daniel yelled, pushing Sarah out of the path of the speeding vehicle.
The SUV smashed violently into Daniel's sedan, crushing it against the concrete wall in a shower of sparks and shattered glass.
Their only escape vehicle was completely destroyed.
Four men in black tactical gear stepped out of the wrecked SUV, raising automatic weapons.
Martin clutched his rifle, realizing they were completely out of ammo and out of options.
He stepped in front of his daughter, preparing to die to protect her.
Then, the piercing sound of a police siren echoed through the underground structure.
Red and blue lights flashed against the concrete walls as three police cruisers aggressively blocked the garage exit.
Thorne's men hesitated, lowering their weapons as heavily armed SWAT officers swarmed the garage.
A tall FBI agent stepped out of the lead cruiser, holding up a badge.
"FBI, drop your weapons immediately!" the agent commanded over a megaphone.
Martin let out a massive sigh of relief, dropping his empty rifle to the ground.
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They were finally saved.
But when Martin turned to look at Daniel, the younger man was staring at the FBI agent with absolute, paralyzing terror.
