Chapter 2 - The Fire at the Warehouse
"Get the medical kit!" Adrien roared, his voice cutting through the panic like thunder.
Within seconds, two of Dragamir’s private physicians were on the foyer floor, stabilizing Maya with IV lines and pressure bandages. Marcus and three armed guards secured the perimeter, while Adrien stood over the two men who had brought her.
The men were mercenaries, but they were terrified.
"Who hired you?" Adrien demanded, stepping into their space, his gun lowered but ready.
"We were private security for Ashcroft Logistics," the lead guard stammered, holding his hands up in surrender. "We didn't know what was in the warehouse! We thought it was just document shredding! But then they started bringing out... kids. Teenagers. Locking them into transport vans. When Maya tried to break out, the site manager shot her! We couldn't take it, man! We grabbed her and ran!"
Elena looked up from Maya’s side, her eyes filled with tears and fury. "They're moving the current children. Adrien... if those vans leave the state, those kids will vanish forever."
Adrien looked at his watch. 1:45 AM.
"Where is the warehouse?" he asked the guard.
"Pine Barrens. Route 9, old brick factory," the guard stammered. "They have ten men on site. Armed with automatic rifles. They're burning the paper records in incinerator drums right now."
Adrien turned to Marcus. "Assemble the team. Four SUVs. Full tactical gear. No police."
"Boss," Marcus warned quietly. "Interfering with an active facility in another jurisdiction... if the Ashcrofts have state troopers on their payroll, this becomes a federal shootout."
"Then we make sure the federal troopers arrive after we take the children," Adrien said coldly. He turned to Elena. "You stay here. Maya needs you, and you're safe inside these walls."
Elena stood up, wiping the blood from her hands onto her apron. She looked directly into Adrien Dragamir’s eyes without flinching.
"I know that warehouse, Adrien. I spent eight months locked in its sub-basement when I was twelve. The main doors are reinforced steel, but there’s a drainage tunnel that leads into the boiler room from the creek behind the property. If you go through the front, they’ll hear you coming and drive the transport vans out the back before you break the gate."
Adrien stared at her for a long second, evaluating her words.
"You're coming in the command vehicle," he declared finally. "You show us the tunnel. But you do not step out of the car."
"Agreed," Elena said instantly.
Twenty minutes later, a convoy of four black armored SUVs tore through the pouring rain, speeding south toward the dark pine forests of New Jersey.
Inside the lead vehicle, Elena sat beside Adrien. He reached into a side compartment and pulled out a heavy bulletproof vest, adjusting the straps over her shoulders himself, his touch deliberate and secure.
"You don't have to do this, Elena," he said quietly, his face illuminated by the green glow of the tactical dashboard monitors. "You've survived enough."
"I survived so I could stand here tonight," Elena replied, looking out at the rain-streaked window. "For twenty-four years, I thought I was alone. I thought no one cared if we lived or died. But you looked at my hands, Adrien. You saw me."
May you like
Adrien looked down at her hands, still wrapped in white gauze. He reached out, his hand covering hers, squeezing gently.
"I see you," he whispered. "And tonight, we tear down their cage."
