Chapter 4 - The Breach at the Safehouse
My heart plummeted into my stomach as I pulled up the private security feed to Ethan’s downtown penthouse on my phone screen.
The camera in the living room was dark, the lens cracked, but the audio feed was still active. The sound of shattered glass, heavy tactical gunfire, and Ethan’s desperate shouts filled the federal conference room.
"David! They breached the perimeter!" Ethan’s voice screamed through the speaker, accompanied by the deafening sound of an explosion. "Get Lily out—!"
The call went dead.
"Trace the signal!" Miller roared to his tech team, standing up so fast his chair flipped over behind him. "Get SWAT to the penthouse immediately!"
I didn't wait for SWAT. I grabbed my coat, sprinted out of the glass doors, and took the stairs three at a time down to the garage.
Ten minutes later, my SUV screeched to a halt outside Ethan’s high-rise building. The main lobby glass was shattered, and security guards lay groaning on the marble floor. I pulled my personal sidearm from my shoulder holster and rushed into the private elevator, jamming the button for the penthouse floor.
When the doors slid open, the hallway smelled of ozone, smoke, and tear gas.
I kicked open the heavy oak door of Ethan’s apartment. The living room was trashed—furniture torn apart, bullet holes lining the plaster walls.
Ethan was lying near the kitchen island, clutching a bloody wound on his shoulder, his weapon empty beside him.
"Ethan!" I dropped to my knees, checking his neck pulse.
"I... I fought them off as long as I could, David," Ethan choked out, coughing up smoke. "Vance’s mercs... they had heavy gear. They took her..."
"Where?" I demanded, my hands shaking as I pressed a dish towel against his shoulder wound. "Where did they take Lily?!"
Ethan reached into his pocket with his good hand, pulling out a small, metallic tracking chip with a flashing red light.
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"Before they knocked me out... I managed to slip Lily’s emergency location tracker into her teddy bear's lining," Ethan breathed, looking up at me with sheer determination. "They're heading toward the private airfield in Gary, Indiana. Vance has a cargo transport waiting."
"Stay down, Ethan. The paramedics are right behind me," I said, standing up, my jaw set like flint. "I'm getting my daughter back."
