Chapter 15 - THE TICKING CLOCK"We have to move," Adrian grabbed my hand, pulling me toward the concrete stairs.
We raced up the dark staircase, bursting back into the main warehouse floor. But as we reached the exit, the heavy steel sliding door was jammed tight, secured by a heavy electronic override box that Marcus Vance had smashed with a sledgehammer before fleeing.
Sparks showered from the ruined control panel.
Adrian drew his tactical knife and began hacking desperately at the internal wiring of the override box, trying to hotwire the door open manually.
"Damn it!" Adrian cursed under his breath, sweat beading on his forehead as his hands moved with frantic precision. "He wired the detonator directly into the primary electrical grid. If I cross the wrong wire, it triggers the charges instantly."
"How much time do we have left?" I asked, my heart hammering against my ribs as I looked up at the ceiling, where a small red digital timer mounted on a support beam was flashing ominously: 01:14... 01:13...
"Seventy seconds," Adrian said, his voice entirely focused, devoid of panic.
"Adrian, leave me," I said firmly, grabbing his arm. "The door is too jammed. You can force the hinges if you use your full weight, but you won't have time to pull me through with you. Go. Save yourself for the children."
Adrian stopped working. He dropped his knife, turned around slowly, and looked at me with an intensity that burned brighter than any fire.
"Are you out of your mind?" Adrian demanded, his voice fierce and trembling. "I spent thirty-six years living in the dark, Elena. You and Mia and Leo are the only light I have ever known. Do you really think I would walk out of this door alone and live another day without you?"
"Adrian—"
"Shut up," he murmured softly, pulling me into a fierce, desperate kiss that tasted of salt and absolute finality.
When he pulled back, he smiled—that rare, blinding smile meant only for me.
"We walked into this together," Adrian said. "And we walk out together."
He turned back to the control box, gripped a thick bundle of red and blue wires with his bare hands, and yanked them apart with one brutal, calculated wrench.
BZZZZT!
A shower of electric sparks exploded across the room.
The red timer on the ceiling flickered, stuttered, and went completely dark at 00:03.
For three agonizing seconds, the warehouse was dead silent. Then, with a loud, protesting groan of grinding metal, the heavy steel sliding door popped open three inches.
Adrian didn't hesitate. He threw his shoulder against the heavy steel, wedging his body into the gap and pushing with every ounce of raw, adrenaline-fueled strength in his massive frame. The metal door slid open just enough for a person to squeeze through.
"Go, Elena! Now!" Adrian yelled, holding the heavy door open with his bare hands as his muscles strained to the breaking point.
I squeezed through the gap, tumbling out onto the wet concrete of the pier into the pouring rain. Marcus and our tactical team rushed forward, grabbing me and pulling me safely away from the building.
"Get the boss out!" Marcus screamed to his men.
A second later, Adrian lunged backward through the gap, rolling across the wet pavement just as a secondary, smaller charge inside the office trailer detonated with a muffled boom, blowing out the warehouse windows in a shower of shattered glass.
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Adrian scrambled to his feet, coughing slightly from the smoke, and ran straight toward me, scooping me up in his arms and holding me tight against his chest as the rain washed over us both.
"I told you," Adrian whispered against my hair, his voice thick with emotion. "I'm never letting you go."
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