Chapter 6 - The Underground ArmoryBack in Columbus, Detective Renee Cole watched the live monitor in horror as Gabriel was disarmed and pinned to the floor by Thomas’s security detail.
“Sir, we have the location locked. GPS coordinates match the old North Valley facility on Route 9,” tactical team leader Miller reported, slamming his fist onto the desk. “All units are mobilizing. ETA twenty minutes.”
“Twenty minutes is too long,” Renee said, her eyes locked on the screen. She noticed something else in the background of the subterranean feed—a secondary corridor leading away from the main holding room.
And in that corridor, a small, terrified face appeared on a low-angle security lens.
It was Lucas.
The boy hadn't been captured by Candice at the police station. He had slipped out of the interview room, followed the decoy trail, and tracked his father’s truck on his own phone GPS. He was inside the building.
“Miller, move!” Renee shouted, drawing her weapon. “We are going in right now!”
Meanwhile, inside the subterranean server room, Lucas pressed his back against the cold concrete wall. His heart thundered against his ribs like a trapped bird.
He clutched Clara’s silver christening cup in one hand. In his pocket was his father’s heavy spare truck key.
He could hear voices echoing down the metal ventilation shaft from the room above.
“...tie him up next to his sister-in-law. When the authorities arrive—if they arrive—the building will experience a gas leak. A tragic, accidental fire,” Pastor Thomas’s voice echoed clearly. “And the grieving truck driver and his rebellious son will be found among the ashes.”
Lucas’s hands shook. For months, Candice had convinced him he was weak, crazy, and unloved. She had made him believe his very existence was a burden.
But as he heard his father’s muffled shouts of defiance from above, something inside the sixteen-year-old boy snapped.
Not fear.
May you like
Rage.
He looked down at the silver cup, remembering his mother’s voice telling him to be strong. He quietly reached into his pocket, pulled out the heavy brass key, and crept toward the heavy metal security door leading directly into the back of the syndicate’s master control room.
