Chapter 16 - The Mastermind Unmasked
I didn't panic. As a trauma surgeon, my brain functions with absolute, surgical clarity under extreme pressure.
As the intruder reached the top step, stretching his hand out to grab my throat, I sidestepped his momentum. With swift, precise anatomical knowledge, I thrust the handle of the heavy metal scalpel tray directly into the nerve cluster on the side of his neck.
He gasped, dropping to his knees, paralyzed by the temporary shock to his brachial plexus. Before his partner could draw a weapon, the front doors were kicked off their hinges.
Zachary and a tactical team of off-duty state troopers swept into the foyer with laser sights fixed on the remaining two intruders.
"Drop your weapons!" Zachary yelled, his voice echoing like thunder.
The men dropped their firearms immediately, raising their hands into the air.
Zachary rushed up the stairs, taking my face in his hands, his eyes searching mine frantically. "Samantha! Are you hurt? Did they touch you?"
"I'm fine," I breathed out, my adrenaline finally beginning to subside. "Paisley is safe in the panic room."
Zachary looked down at the intruder groaning on the floor at my feet, then back at me, a mixture of awe and profound respect shining in his eyes. "Remind me never to get on your bad side, Dr. Miller."
Ten minutes later, as police officers dragged the intruders away, one of the men’s encrypted phones buzzed on the floor. Zachary picked it up and tapped the speaker button.
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"Did you get the server drives?" Richard Howard’s cold voice came through the speaker. "Is the doctor secured?"
Zachary pressed the phone to his lips. "Hello, Uncle Richard. Your men failed. The federal marshals are at your front gate right now. Enjoy your remaining hours of freedom."
