Chapter 6 - The Lion's Den
Behind them, the stone safehouse was engulfed in smoke as sirens began wailing in the far distance.
Fiona carried Arthur through the mud, her lungs burning, her feet slipping on the slick pine needles. She ran for twenty minutes through the pitch-black woods until she reached a paved secondary road.
Standing beneath the shelter of an abandoned gas station roof, Fiona pulled out her personal cellphone, which she had kept turned off to prevent tracking. She turned it on, dialed a private number she had memorized from Dominic's study, and waited.
"Speak," Dominic's cold voice answered on the first ring.
"Dominic! It's Fiona! We got out!" she gasped, her breath ragged.
There was a sudden, violent sound of breaking glass and gunfire on Dominic's end of the line, followed by Marco shouting orders in the background.
"Fiona! Where are you? Are you safe? Is Arthur okay?" Dominic’s voice crackled with unprecedented emotion.
"We're at an old gas station on Route 41," Fiona said. "The safehouse was hit by mercenaries. Your guards... they didn't make it. But I have Arthur. We're safe for now, but he needs the antidote, Dominic. I identified the drug—it's Compound X-94. It's stored at Apex Bio-Tech in downtown Chicago!"
"Listen to me," Dominic said, his tone turning into pure steel. "I am at Senator Vance's estate right now. My men have breached his security. We have Vance and Victoria cornered in his study. Marco is coming to pick you up in an armored truck in five minutes. Stay out of sight until you see his headlights."
"Dominic, don't kill him yet!" Fiona pleaded. "He might have the antidote at his estate!"
"He doesn't," Dominic replied grimly. "He just confessed. The antidote is locked in the vault at the Apex Bio-Tech tower on Michigan Avenue. And the facility is currently being wiped by his men to cover their tracks."
"No!" Fiona gasped. "If they destroy the batch, Arthur will have permanent neurological damage within forty-eight hours!"
"They won't destroy it," Dominic said, a terrifying edge to his voice. "Because I am going there myself. Marco will bring you and Arthur to the tower under heavy escort. We end this tonight."
Ten minutes later, a massive black armored transport truck roared up to the gas station, sliding to a halt. The rear doors flew open, revealing Marco, covered in rain and soot, holding a tactical carbine.
"Get in! Move!" Marco shouted.
Fiona lifted Arthur into the truck and climbed in after him. The heavy doors slammed shut, and the armored vehicle tore down the highway toward the glowing skyline of downtown Chicago.
Inside the vehicle, Marco handed Fiona a thermal blanket and a bottle of warm water.
"Where is Dominic?" Fiona asked, wrapping Arthur securely.
"He took three carloads of men straight to the Apex Bio-Tech tower," Marco said, checking his magazine. "Senator Vance thought he could play in the mud with real monsters. He found out tonight that Dominic Costello doesn't play by courtroom rules."
"What happened to Victoria?" Fiona asked softly.
Marco looked at her with a chillingly blank expression. "Victoria and her father are currently in federal custody, screaming for immunity. Dominic made sure every financial record, every video recording of Dr. Reed, and every poisoned needle was delivered directly to the FBI Director’s desk an hour ago. Their lives as powerful people are over."
"And Dr. Reed?"
"Dr. Reed is currently helping the FBI identify every corrupt official on Vance's payroll," Marco grunted. "Now our only job is to get that antidote before Vance's clean-up crew burns the lab to the ground."
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Fiona looked out the small reinforced window of the armored truck. The massive skyscrapers of Chicago loomed ahead against the dark, stormy night sky, sparkling like diamond towers.
She was a nurse who had started her week caring for sick toddlers in a hospital wing. Now, she was riding in an armored mob transport into the heart of a corporate warzone to save the life of the boy sleeping against her shoulder. And strange as it felt, she had never felt more determined in her life.
