Chapter 8 - THE LOCKDOWN
The heavy steel door locked with a sound like a tomb sealing shut.
I rushed to Adrian’s side, kicking Marcus’s body out of the way. I ripped open a medical kit from the wall, pulling out gauze and pressure bandages.
"You're awake," I cried, packing the dressing tightly against his shoulder wound.
"Barely," Adrian grimaced, his skin pale and clammy. He looked at the shattered glass on the floor. "Did you really destroy the DNA?"
"Yes," I said, wrapping a bandage tight around his torso. "The money is gone. No one gets it."
Adrian let out a breathless, painful laugh. "You truly are a DeLuca. Ruthless when it counts."
"I am Emily Carter," I said firmly, tying off the bandage. "I clean up messes. That's what I do."
Sofia was sitting in the corner, clutching her knees to her chest, staring at Marcus’s body. I walked over and gently turned her face away.
"Don't look at him, baby," I whispered. "Look at me. We're going to be okay."
A loud, metallic banging echoed from the other side of the steel door.
"Adrian!" Vincent’s voice barked through the intercom speaker on the wall. "I know you're in there. My men are setting breaching charges. You have three minutes before we blow the door and kill everyone inside."
Adrian struggled to sit up, leaning against the steel wall.
"The door is blast-proof," Adrian said weakly. "But the hinges aren't. C-4 will take it down."
Answer One: The panic room was secure, but not invincible against a coordinated military breach.
Open Two: How do we survive a squad of heavily armed men in a confined space with nowhere to run?
I looked around the room. There were guns on the wall, but I didn't know how to shoot. Adrian was too weak to hold a rifle.
Then, my eyes landed on the ventilation grate near the ceiling.
"Where does that vent lead?" I asked.
Adrian looked up. "The exhaust shaft. It leads up to the garden. But it's too small for an adult to fit through."
I looked at Sofia.
She was nine years old. Tiny for her age.
"Sofia," I said, crouching down to her eye level. "I need you to be the bravest you have ever been."
Her eyes widened in terror. "No. I won't leave you."
"You have to," Adrian said, his voice cracking with emotion. "You climb up that shaft. You crawl until you feel the grass. Then you run into the woods and hide. Do not look back."
"I can't!" she sobbed.
I grabbed her small shoulders. "Listen to me. You are the strongest person in this room. You survived the man in your room. You survived Thomas. You can survive this. I will boost you up."
The banging on the door grew louder. Someone shouted orders to set the detonators.
"Two minutes!" Vincent yelled through the intercom.
I pulled a heavy metal chair beneath the vent. Using my good hand, I unscrewed the grate.
I lifted Sofia up. She was crying silently now, tears streaming down her dirty cheeks.
"I love you, Daddy," she whispered, looking down at Adrian.
"I love you more than life, piccola," Adrian choked out, touching his fingers to his lips and pressing them to her shoe.
I pushed her into the dark metal shaft. "Go. Now."
She began to crawl upward, her small form disappearing into the darkness.
I replaced the grate.
I turned back to Adrian. He looked peaceful. Resigned.
"You should have gone with her," he said quietly.
"I couldn't fit," I lied. I probably could have squeezed. But I wasn't leaving him to die alone.
I walked over to the gun rack. I pulled down a heavy assault rifle. It was incredibly heavy, especially with my swollen left wrist.
"Do you even know how to take the safety off?" Adrian asked, a faint, sad smile on his lips.
"I'll figure it out," I said, bracing the barrel against a medical crate, aiming it directly at the steel door.
"One minute!" Vincent called out. "Last chance, Emily. Open the door, give me the DNA, and the girl lives."
"The DNA is gone!" I yelled back. "And you're going to burn in hell!"
A cruel laugh echoed through the speaker.
"Then we all burn."
Silence fell over the basement.
The heavy, agonizing wait before the explosion.
I looked at Adrian. "If we survive this... I want a raise."
Adrian chuckled, closing his eyes. "Double your salary. And a corner office."
"Ten seconds!" a muffled voice yelled outside.
I squeezed my eyes shut, gripping the trigger, praying Sofia was far away.
Three.
Two.
One.
But the explosion didn't come.
Instead, a massive, deafening roar of automatic gunfire erupted from the other side of the door.
Men screamed. Boots scrambled against the concrete.
The gunfire lasted for ten agonizing seconds, followed by the heavy thud of bodies hitting the floor.
Then, silence.
I kept the rifle aimed at the door, my heart in my throat.
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A static click came over the intercom.
"Mr. DeLuca?" a new voice asked. It sounded young, breathless, and incredibly panicked. "Sir, it's Officer Ramirez. State Police. Your daughter flagged us down on the highway. Are you alive in there?"
