Chapter 7 - The Hostage
“Run!” James shouted, firing twin blasts into the frontline of mercenaries.
I grabbed Lily’s hand and dragged her toward the secret tunnel hidden beneath the floorboards.
Bullets shredded the room behind us, destroying the computer servers and showering sparks everywhere.
Just as we reached the trapdoor, a mercenary managed to flank James.
A single gunshot echoed, and the professor collapsed to the floor with a fatal wound to his chest.
“No!” Lily screamed, trying desperately to run back to him.
I wrapped my arms around her waist and hauled her down into the dark tunnel against her will.
I sealed the heavy iron hatch above us just as the mercenaries swarmed the ruined tea shop.
We ran through the damp, rat-infested sewers for miles until we finally reached a safe exit near the docks.
Lily collapsed against a brick wall, weeping uncontrollably for the man who had raised her.
I placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, feeling the absolute weight of a father’s responsibility for the first time.
“We are going to finish what James started,” I promised her quietly.
“We are going to break into Thorne Industries tonight.”
We spent the next few hours stealing security uniforms and mapping out the enemy skyscraper.
We successfully infiltrated the building, bluffing our way past the front desk and into the restricted server floor.
Lily plugged her modified tablet into the main console, her fingers flying across the digital keyboard.
“I have the decryption key,” she whispered excitedly as the progress bar hit one hundred percent.
Before she could pull the drive out, the entire floor was flooded with blinding emergency lights.
A heavy metal grate dropped from the ceiling, completely separating me from Lily.
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Arthur Vance stepped out from the shadows, accompanied by a dozen armed guards.
He smiled cruelly and placed a cold gun directly against Lily’s temple.
