Chapter 4 - Infiltration at Mercy Harbor
By midnight, the storm over Seattle had escalated into a full-blown gale. Wind howled through the concrete pillars of Mercy Harbor Medical Center, rattling the heavy glass windows of the ICU wing.
In the basement garage, an unmarked black medical transport van pulled into the loading bay. Two men in tactical raincoats stepped out, carrying a heavy transport gurney.
In Room 912, Everett lay trapped in his bed. His mind was clear now, the neurotoxin slowly clearing from his bloodstream, but his body was still mostly paralyzed. He could move his head and his fingers, but he was completely helpless against the men Marcus had sent to erase him.
Marcus Vane stood at the foot of the bed, buttoning his black trench coat.
“It’s a shame, Everett,” Marcus said smoothly, checking his gold wristwatch. “If you had just stayed asleep, you would have slipped away peacefully. Now, you’re going to have an unfortunate cardiovascular event en route to the private clinic in Vancouver. The press will mourn you. The stock will stabilize. And I will finally own what you refused to share.”
“You killed... Clara,” Everett choked out, his dark eyes burning with pure hatred.
Marcus smiled faintly, adjusting his silk tie. “Clara was naive. She thought technology belonged to the world. She didn't understand that power is only valuable when it’s held by the few.”
The door to Room 912 swished open.
A tall man in a navy blue janitor’s uniform stepped inside, pushing a heavy metal linen cart. He wore a low-brimmed cap, shielding his face from the security cameras.
“I told you floor staff to clear this hall!” Marcus snapped, turning around with an annoyed scowl. “Get out!”
The janitor didn't leave. He lifted his head, revealing the burning eyes of Miles Bell.
Before Marcus could scream for security, Miles grabbed a heavy stainless-steel IV pole and swung it with all his strength.
CLANG!
The pole caught Marcus squarely across the chest, knocking the air out of him and sending him crashing against the hard tile floor. Marcus gasped for breath, sprawling near the foot of the bed.
Miles didn't hesitate. He rushed to Everett’s bedside, grabbing the wheel locks on the hospital bed and snapping them open.
“Arthur...” Everett breathed, staring up at the man he hadn't seen in five years.
“Shut up and hold on,” Miles growled.
He threw a heavy blanket over Everett, disconnected the stationary monitors, and began pushing the heavy medical bed out into the hallway.
At the end of the corridor, the two tactical guards heard the commotion and pulled their suppressed handguns. “Freeze!”
Suddenly, the fire alarms throughout the building shrieked into life. Overhead sprinklers erupted, drenching the hallway in a freezing deluge of water. The magnetic fire doors began to slide shut.
From behind a corner, Evelyn Ross appeared, holding a spent fire extinguisher she had just smashed into an alarm pull-station. “This way! To the service freight elevator!”
Miles pushed the bed with all his might, his boots skidding across the wet, slippery floor. The guards gave chase, but the closing iron fire doors slammed shut between them, locking the tactical team out.
May you like
They piled into the massive industrial elevator. The heavy doors closed just as Marcus Vane stumbled into the hallway, his face twisted in a mask of absolute fury.
“Find them!” Marcus roared through the closing gap. “Kill them all!”
