Chapter 3 - The Boiler Room
It was one of the heavy mercenaries completely hunting her in the shadows.
He was speaking softly into a glowing radio attached to his tactical vest.
"The housekeeper is trapped in the basement, I will eliminate her now," the killer whispered.
Maya looked desperately around her hiding spot for absolutely any kind of weapon.
Her eyes landed on a heavy bottle of highly concentrated chemical drain cleaner.
She knew that mixing it with the leftover bleach on the floor would create toxic gas.
She slowly unscrewed the plastic cap with violently trembling fingers.
The mercenary's flashlight beam slowly crept closer to her fragile hiding spot.
Maya aggressively threw the heavy bottle of acid directly at the killer's face.
The man screamed in absolute agony as the chemicals violently burned his eyes.
Maya sprinted past him toward the heavy steel door leading to the boiler room.
She locked the heavy deadbolt behind her just as the killer began to wildly fire his weapon.
The boiler room was sweltering hot and filled with a thick curtain of white steam.
Maya navigated the maze of rusty pipes, hoping to find a maintenance exit to the street.
She stopped dead in her tracks when she heard a low, muffled groan nearby.
Maya grabbed a heavy iron wrench from a toolbox and slowly approached the sound.
Tied to a heavy metal chair in the center of the room was an older gentleman in a torn suit.
His face was badly beaten, but Maya immediately recognized his silver hair.
It was Mr. Vance, the billionaire owner of the entire hotel franchise.
Maya frantically rushed forward and used a box cutter to slice through his thick zip ties.
"What is happening, Mr. Vance, why are these men taking over the building?" Maya asked breathlessly.
Vance rubbed his bruised wrists and looked at her with pure terror in his eyes.
"Julian is a cartel fixer who infiltrated my hotel to access the underground data vault," Vance explained.
"He used my goddaughter Eleanor as a fake fiancé just to get past our background checks."
Maya realized that Julian was planning to steal the encrypted identities of undercover federal agents.
"We have to stop him before he downloads that list, or thousands will die," Vance warned.
Suddenly, the heavy steel door of the boiler room violently buckled inward.
The blinded mercenary had used a breaching charge to blow the deadbolt completely off.
He stood in the doorway with his assault rifle raised blindly toward the steam.
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"Run into the ventilation shaft behind the furnace!" Vance shouted fiercely.
Maya and Vance scrambled frantically onto the metal grating just as the killer opened fire.
