Chapter 9 - The Hostage Exchange
I slowly answered the phone, intensely listening to the heavy, panicked breathing echoing on the other end of the line.
Evan had somehow managed to completely evade the police at the hospital, but he sounded utterly desperate and entirely unhinged.
"I know you have the real journals and the drive, Clara," Evan shouted aggressively through the crackling receiver.
I wiped cold mud from my face, silently watching the heavily armed military police secure my mother's destroyed property.
"It is entirely over, Evan," I told him, deliberately keeping my voice dangerously calm and authoritative.
"Your hired mercenaries are currently running away, and the federal police have all your forged bank records."
Evan suddenly let out a manic, terrifying laugh that instantly made my blood run incredibly cold.
"It is not over until I get exactly what I need to pay off my massive debts," he snarled viciously.
He then quickly turned his camera on, immediately switching the audio call to a horrifyingly clear live video feed.
My heart literally stopped beating when I saw my fragile mother lying helplessly in her hospital bed.
Evan was standing right beside her monitor, firmly holding a medical syringe filled with clear liquid dangerously near her IV line.
He had ruthlessly snuck back into the chaotic hospital during the massive distraction of the police investigation.
"Bring the hard drive to the hospital parking garage in twenty minutes, or she dies immediately," he threatened darkly.
He abruptly ended the call before I could utter a single desperate word of protest.
I sprinted wildly toward Colonel Hayes, frantically explaining the horrific hostage situation as we ran to his armored vehicle.
We drove back to the hospital at breakneck speed, with sirens blaring deafeningly through the slick, rainy streets.
I clutched the digital hard drive tightly against my chest, fiercely determined to end this nightmare permanently tonight.
When we reached the dark parking garage, Evan was nervously waiting alone near a damp concrete pillar.
May you like
He held out his shaking hand, demanding the drive with a wildly crazed look in his bloodshot eyes.
But as I confidently stepped forward, Chloe emerged silently from the shadows and pointed a loaded pistol directly at my head.
