Chapter 3 - The Ghost Protocol
"Get out of the car!" Dante roared as he shoved the heavy armored door open.
I grabbed Lily and threw myself out onto the hard concrete of the parking garage.
We scrambled desperately behind a massive concrete pillar just as the timer hit zero.
The explosion ripped through the parking structure with a deafening, bone-rattling boom.
A massive wave of heat and shattered glass washed over our hiding spot, raining debris all around us.
The expensive black SUV was instantly reduced to a burning, twisted shell of metal.
The building's fire alarms instantly began blaring, accompanied by the hiss of emergency sprinklers turning on.
Dante wiped a streak of blood from his forehead and looked at Lily in absolute awe.
"Your kid just saved our lives," Dante panted, struggling to catch his breath.
I checked Lily carefully to ensure she had not been cut by the flying shrapnel.
She was perfectly fine, but she was clutching her stuffed rabbit with terrified intensity.
We could hear the sound of heavy boots running down the access ramps toward the smoke.
Mason's men were closing in to verify that we had perished in the explosive trap.
"We have to steal another car right now," Dante whispered urgently.
We crept through the thick, toxic smoke, moving from vehicle to vehicle until we found an unlocked maintenance van.
Dante smashed the steering column open and hot-wired the ignition with practiced, criminal speed.
The old van sputtered to life, and we tore out of the garage just as Mason's thugs rounded the corner.
Bullets pinged loudly against the rear doors of the van as we sped onto the rainy streets of Boston.
"Where can we possibly go now?" I asked Dante over the rattling noise of the engine.
"Mr. Vale has a ghost protocol, a hidden safe house that even Mason does not know about," Dante explained.
We drove for nearly an hour, taking a convoluted route through industrial districts to ensure we were not followed.
We finally arrived at an abandoned, rusted shipping warehouse sitting silently on the edge of the dark waterfront.
Dante manually opened the heavy corrugated metal doors, and we drove the van inside.
The interior of the warehouse was shockingly luxurious, transformed into a high-tech, impenetrable fortress.
I sat on a leather sofa, holding Lily tightly as the adrenaline slowly left my exhausted body.
Dante activated the perimeter security cameras and locked down every single entrance.
"We are safe here for now, but Mr. Vale is still trapped in that hospital," Dante muttered in frustration.
I looked at the massive array of security monitors mounted on the brick wall.
"Then we need to figure out how to break a mafia boss out of a secure medical facility," I stated firmly.
Just as I spoke those brave words, the main power to the warehouse abruptly cut off, plunging us into total darkness.
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And a cold, unfamiliar voice echoed from the shadows of the supposedly secure room.
"I am afraid nobody is breaking anyone out of anywhere tonight."
