Chapter 2 - The Crimson Ledger"The ceiling hatch," Daniel rasped, coughing up a fresh wave of dark crimson. He pointed a trembling finger upward toward a rusted metal grate set high into the pantry ceiling, half-hidden behind industrial spice racks. "It leads to the old HVAC maintenance shaft. It exits into the alley behind the fish market two blocks over."
"You can't even stand, let alone climb a ladder!" I argued, eyeing his catastrophic stomach wound.
"I have to," he said, his icy blue eyes locking onto mine with an intensity that brooked no argument. "Take the twins. Put them inside your backpack. Now, Anna."
I didn't waste another second. I unzipped my worn canvas backpack, tossed out my spare uniform shirt and a half-eaten sandwich, and gently slid the two infants inside, securing the zippers with just enough space for air to circulate. They let out soft, confused gurgles, but remarkably, neither cried out.
With a surge of adrenaline I didn't know I possessed, I dragged a heavy wooden crate beneath the hatch, scrambled up, and pushed the rusted iron grate open. Cool, damp night air rushed in.
Below, the heavy brass lock on the pantry door shattered with a deafening crash. Heavy boots trampled across the flour-dusted floor.
"Clear!" someone shouted.
I hauled myself up into the narrow, pitch-black metal duct just as Marcus Vance’s shadow filled the pantry doorway.
"He went through the ceiling!" Marcus bellowed, his composure finally cracking into pure fury. "Shoot them down!"
Ping! Ping!
Bullets ricocheted off the metal walls of the shaft, screaming past my ears as I wriggled forward on my stomach, dragging my heavy backpack with me. Every muscle in my body burned, but the thought of Marcus's silencer finding its mark kept me moving.
We burst out of the maintenance exit into the alley behind the fish market, tumbling awkwardly onto the slick asphalt just as a torrential downpour began to clear, replaced by a biting pre-dawn chill.
"Where... where now?" I gasped, catching my breath while checking the backpack. The twins were safe, breathing steadily.
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Daniel stumbled out of the shaft right behind me, collapsing hard against a stack of wooden crates. He pulled a heavy, encrypted gold-plated smartphone from his inner jacket pocket, its screen glowing with a single blinking red indicator.
"Now," Daniel said, wiping blood from his chin as a sleek, bulletproof black Maybach silently glided out of the shadows to block the alley exit, its headlights off. "We go pay a visit to my brother."
