Chapter 5 - Ninety Seconds to Run
Grace slammed the laptop shut.
“Move.”
Nobody argued.
They ran.
Mason supported Caleb.
Derek took the lead.
Olivia followed Grace through the dim maintenance corridor.
Behind them, metal doors opened.
Voices echoed.
Adrian’s men were close.
Grace pointed toward a stairwell.
“Down.”
They descended two floors.
Olivia’s heels became useless.
She kicked them off and continued barefoot.
The concrete was cold.
Derek looked back.
For a moment, his expression softened when he saw her feet.
Then he looked away.
Olivia almost laughed.
Even now he wanted to play the concerned protector.
They reached a basement laundry facility.
Industrial machines lined the room.
Grace locked the door behind them.
Mason lowered Caleb onto a bench.
“How long?”
Grace looked at the control panel.
“Maybe two minutes.”
Derek shook his head.
“Thirty seconds.”
Grace glared at him.
“Encouraging.”
Derek walked toward a ventilation map.
“There’s a loading tunnel.”
Grace nodded.
“Blocked.”
“By what?”
“Two SUVs.”
“Then we move them.”
Mason laughed.
“With what?”
Derek pointed toward a maintenance cart.
“With that.”
It looked barely large enough to carry linens.
Mason stared.
“You’re joking.”
“No.”
Caleb coughed.
“I have garage access.”
He pulled a security card from his pocket.
Grace took it.
“Good.”
Olivia knelt in front of him.
“You stay here.”
Caleb shook his head.
“They’ll find me.”
“We’ll hide you.”
He looked at her.
“Miss Bennett.”
His voice was weak but serious.
“They’re not here for him.”
He nodded toward Derek.
Olivia frowned.
“They’re here for you.”
The room went still.
Derek stepped closer.
“What did Adrian say?”
Caleb swallowed.
“He said she was the key.”
Olivia felt cold.
“To what?”
Caleb shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
The laundry room door rattled.
Mason looked up.
“We need to go.”
Grace opened a service hatch.
A narrow tunnel stretched beyond.
The group entered.
Caleb followed despite Olivia’s protests.
The hatch closed behind them.
Ten seconds later, someone kicked open the laundry door.
Footsteps entered.
The group moved silently.
Olivia could hear men talking.
“Check the machines.”
“Open the rear access.”
“Adrian wants the woman alive.”
Olivia looked at Derek.
He heard it too.
His face hardened.
The tunnel descended toward the garage.
Grace stopped at a corner.
She peeked around.
Two men stood near an SUV.
Derek whispered, “How many?”
“Two.”
Mason looked at him.
“Can you get past them?”
Derek replied, “Yes.”
Olivia grabbed his sleeve.
“No.”
He looked at her hand.
She released him.
“We’re not doing this your way.”
“What way?”
“The way where you decide everyone else’s risk.”
Grace nodded.
“She’s right.”
Derek looked annoyed.
Mason whispered, “We distract them.”
Grace opened her laptop again.
She connected to a nearby control panel.
A moment later, a car alarm activated across the garage.
Both guards turned.
Another alarm sounded.
Then another.
Within seconds, eight vehicles were blaring.
The guards moved away.
“Now.”
They ran toward the maintenance cart.
Caleb swiped his card.
The ignition unlocked.
Mason climbed behind the wheel.
Derek stared.
“You know how to drive that?”
“No.”
“Perfect.”
Olivia and Grace climbed onto the back.
Derek helped Caleb aboard.
Mason pressed the accelerator.
The cart lurched forward.
Grace nearly fell.
“Smooth.”
“I said I didn’t know how.”
They sped between parked cars.
A guard saw them.
“There!”
Mason turned sharply.
The cart slammed into a luggage rack.
Metal clattered across the floor.
Derek grabbed the steering wheel.
“Straight.”
“Take your hand off.”
“Drive better.”
Olivia almost shouted at both of them.
Then she saw the blocked exit.
Two black SUVs.
Exactly as Grace had said.
Mason slowed.
“What now?”
Derek pointed toward the downward ramp.
“Sublevel two.”
Grace said, “Dead end.”
“Not anymore.”
They descended.
The garage became darker.
Old construction equipment lined the walls.
Derek pointed toward a steel door.
“There.”
Mason stopped.
Everyone climbed off.
Derek entered a six-digit code.
The door opened.
Grace stared at him.
“You said Adrian doesn’t know this exit.”
“He doesn’t.”
“How?”
“Because I built it after he disappeared.”
Beyond the door was a narrow concrete tunnel.
Olivia looked into the darkness.
“Where does it go?”
“Across the street.”
Mason supported Caleb.
They entered.
The tunnel smelled damp.
Halfway through, Olivia noticed Derek checking his phone.
“No signal.”
“I know.”
“What are you doing?”
He showed her the screen.
A saved photograph.
Two boys standing beside an older man.
One boy was Derek.
The other looked almost identical, only older.
Adrian.
Their father stood between them.
Olivia looked at Derek.
“Why are you showing me this?”
“Because if we get separated, you need to recognize him.”
“I already heard his voice.”
“He changes his appearance.”
Olivia studied the photograph.
Adrian had lighter hair then.
A smile.
He looked normal.
That somehow made him worse.
Derek put the phone away.
They reached the far end.
Grace opened the final door.
Cold night air rushed inside.
They emerged into the basement of an office building across the street.
Mason found an unlocked storage room.
They entered.
Caleb collapsed onto a chair.
Grace checked her phone.
Signal bars appeared.
“Finally.”
She dialed emergency services.
Nothing.
She frowned.
“Call failed.”
Mason tried his.
Same result.
Derek looked toward the street-level window.
“They’re blocking local networks.”
Grace switched to her radio.
Static.
Then a voice broke through.
Female.
“Grace?”
Grace froze.
Olivia looked at her.
“Who is that?”
Grace grabbed the radio.
“Say again.”
The woman replied.
“It’s Nora.”
Grace’s face drained of color.
Derek whispered, “No.”
Olivia looked between them.
“Who’s Nora?”
Grace did not answer.
The voice returned.
“Adrian knows about the second copy.”
Olivia felt her chest tighten.
Grace pressed the radio.
“Where are you?”
Nora replied.
“Inside the Monarch.”
Grace closed her eyes.
Derek took the radio.
“Nora, get out.”
Silence.
Then Nora laughed.
Not warmly.
“Derek.”
His face changed.
Nora continued.
“You still think I’m on your side.”
The radio clicked off.
Grace stared at him.
“What did she mean?”
Derek did not answer.
Olivia stepped forward.
“Who is Nora?”
Grace looked at Olivia.
“She’s the federal agent I gave your files to.”
Olivia’s heart stopped.
May you like
Grace whispered the rest.
“And apparently she just betrayed us.”
