CHAPTER 8 — "The Prison Riot Was Only a Distraction… The Real Target Was Waiting Outside the Walls"
The prison had become a war zone.
Smoke poured from two housing blocks.
Sirens screamed.
Floodlights illuminated hundreds of inmates running through the yard.
Some were escaping.
Others were fighting.
Many simply wanted to survive.
Emily ignored the chaos.
"She's leaving."
Brenda frowned.
"How do you know?"
"Because she never fights battles she can't win."
Emily sprinted toward the vehicle checkpoint near the outer gate.
Brenda followed without hesitation.
For the first time...
The prison's most feared inmate had chosen to stand beside someone instead of against her.
As they reached the security garage...
Emily noticed something strange.
One armored transport truck had already started its engine.
Its official prison markings looked perfect.
Too perfect.
Victoria was escaping in plain sight.
Emily grabbed a discarded radio.
"Block Gate Four!"
Static answered.
No response.
The communications system had been disabled.
The truck accelerated.
Emily ran straight toward it.
Brenda shouted,
"Emily, stop!"
The truck didn't slow down.
Instead...
It sped up.
At the last possible second, Emily leaped onto the side step, gripping the rear door with both hands.
The vehicle swerved violently.
Inside the cargo compartment...
She heard applause.
Slow.
Mocking.
Emily forced the door open.
Victoria sat calmly in a leather chair bolted to the floor.
Around her were dozens of classified files, stacks of cash, forged passports, and encrypted laptops.
She had been running her criminal empire from inside the prison all along.
Victoria smiled.
"I knew you'd make it."
Emily stepped inside.
The truck doors slammed shut behind her automatically.
Hidden steel locks engaged.
Click.
Click.
Click.
Emily realized too late.
She hadn't boarded an escape vehicle.
She had entered a moving trap.
Victoria calmly poured two cups of coffee.
"Sit down."
"We have a long drive."
Emily remained standing.
"You'll never get away."
Victoria shook her head.
"Oh, Emily..."
"I already have."
She pressed another button.
A live news broadcast appeared on a monitor.
The anchor spoke urgently.
"Breaking News..."
"Authorities have confirmed that Captain Emily Carter is believed to have orchestrated tonight's deadly prison riot and escaped custody with multiple violent inmates."
Emily's blood ran cold.
Her photograph filled the screen.
She was now the most wanted woman in the country.
Victoria smiled as the truck crossed the prison's outer gate.
"No one will be hunting me."
"They'll be hunting you."
Outside...
Dozens of police vehicles raced toward Blackstone Prison.
None of them noticed the ordinary prison transport quietly driving in the opposite direction.
Emily looked out the narrow rear window.
The prison disappeared into the darkness.
For the first time since entering Blackstone...
She realized the mission had never been about exposing corruption inside the prison.
It had been about stopping a conspiracy that reached far beyond its walls.
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And now...
She had only one chance to clear her name before the entire country believed she had become the criminal.
