Chapter 7 - THE AMBUSH IN SECTOR 4"Marcus, you idiot!" Jack yelled, lunging forward.
Before Jack could reach him, the front glass doors of the clinic shattered into thousands of cascading shards.
Flashbang grenades detonated in the lobby with deafening thuds, filling the corridor with blinding white smoke and high-pitched ringing. Armed private security guards clad in tactical gear burst through the fog, weapons raised.
"Clear the hall! Secure the targets!" a voice bellowed through a megaphone.
Jack was tackled to the freezing concrete floor, his face slammed against the dust. He fought savagely, throwing an elbow into a guard’s visor, but three men pinned his arms behind his back, slapping heavy zip-ties around his wrists.
Victor Sterling walked through the shattered entrance, stepping over the broken glass in his pristine leather boots. He looked down at Jack with mild amusement.
"You played the hero, Jack. But heroes always forget that the city runs on supply and demand," Victor said, gesturing toward the back office. "Bring them out."
Two guards dragged Susan from the office. She was coughing violently, clutching her heart, her face turning an alarmingly dark shade of blue. Behind her, two other guards carried Emma and Olivia, who were kicking and screaming.
"Let them go!" Jack roared, thrashing against his restraints. "She's having a heart attack! Call an ambulance!"
Victor didn't look at Susan. He looked at the twins. "Put the children in the Yukon. As for Nurse Thompson and his mother... make sure they don't survive the building fire."
One of the guards pulled a canister of industrial accelerant from a duffel bag and began pouring it over the wooden pallets and paper files scattered along the hallway.
"Sterling, no!" Marcus screamed, stepping in front of Victor. "You said no one would get hurt! You said you just wanted the kids!"
Victor pulled a silenced pistol from his coat, aimed it casually at Marcus’s chest, and squeezed the trigger twice.
May you like
Marcus collapsed onto the concrete without a sound.
"Loyalty is so expensive these days," Victor remarked, wiping a fleck of oil from his sleeve. "Light it."
