Chapter 7 - THE HOSPITAL AMBUSHAt St. Jude’s Medical Center, the emergency lights flickered overhead as the automated lockdown system engaged.
Dr. Sarah Lin pressed her back against the heavy wooden door of Trauma Room 4. Inside, little Emma was awake, sitting up in bed with wide, terrified eyes, clutching her portable heart monitor like a shield.
"Dr. Lin, are the bad men coming?" Emma whispered, her voice trembling.
"Not while I'm breathing, sweetheart," Sarah lied smoothly, her own heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird. She grabbed a heavy IV pole and jammed it horizontally beneath the door handle just as a heavy shoulder slammed against the exterior wood.
CRASH!
The door splintered, but held.
Outside in the hallway, Marcus Vance stood flanked by two private security contractors. He looked through the reinforced glass window at the little girl inside, a flicker of genuine guilt crossing his hardened features. But it vanished as quickly as it came, replaced by cold necessity.
"Kick it in," Marcus ordered quietly.
Before the contractors could raise their crowbars, the emergency stairwell door flew open with a deafening crash.
"Step away from the door, Marcus!" a voice roared down the hallway.
Marcus whipped around to find Deputy Miller and three armed officers aiming assault rifles straight at his chest from twenty feet away.
"You're out of your depth, Miller!" Marcus yelled back, raising his pistol. "The Judge owns the state police, the governor's office, and half the federal judiciary! You can't win!"
"Maybe," Miller snarled, his finger tightening on the trigger. "But I get to put a bullet in you first!"
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BANG! BANG!
Gunfire erupted in the sterile hospital corridor, shattering glass display cases and sending nurses screaming for cover. Chaos broke out in the hallways—while back at the precinct, Robert Ramirez was preparing to launch the final, suicidal counter-attack.
