Chapter 7 - The Storm on the Roof
When we burst back into the ICU, the alarms were blaring. Red strobe lights flashed against the walls.
Detective Vance was shouting orders to his officers as hospital staff scrambled to evacuate patients down the central ramps.
"Ethan!" Vance ran up to us, his gun drawn. "The fire alarms just went off on seven and eight! What happened up there?!"
"The building is compromised!" I shouted over the noise. "Vanguard Medical is purging the evidence! Get Noah out now!"
"Where is Mason?!" Laura grabbed Vance’s coat. "Where did they take my brother-in-law?!"
"Mason’s already in the ambulance downstairs with a state trooper!" Vance replied. "We have the perimeter secured!"
Suddenly, a rhythmic, deafening thumping rattled the ceiling panels above us.
Thump-thump-thump-thump.
The sound of heavy helicopter rotors hovering directly above the hospital roof.
"He's up there," I said, looking up at the shaking ceiling tile.
"Who?" Vance demanded.
"My father," I said, my voice dropping to a hard stone. "Stay with Laura and Noah. Get them into the transport van."
"Ethan, no!" Laura grabbed my hand, her eyes pleading. "Don't go up there! Let the police handle it!"
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"He set this whole nightmare up, Laura," I looked into her eyes, kissing her forehead gently. "He used our family. He poisoned our son. If I don't close this door tonight, we will be running for the rest of our lives."
I slipped out of her grip, grabbed a heavy tactical flashlight from Vance’s belt, and sprinted toward the roof access door at the end of the ninth-floor landing.
