Chapter 11 - The Breach.The heavy steel door slammed onto the concrete floor with an earth-shattering crash.
Thick, acrid smoke instantly filled the tiny IT closet, choking the air out of the room.
Vance stepped through the haze like a heavily armored ghost, an assault rifle raised to his broad shoulder.
Marcus did not hesitate for a single second.
He squeezed the trigger of his standard-issue sidearm, firing three rapid shots at the towering security chief.
The bullets sparked uselessly against Vance's heavy tactical Kevlar vest.
Vance returned fire immediately, a suppressed burst of rounds tearing blindly through the cramped space.
Marcus cried out in agony as a bullet grazed his shoulder, sending him spinning toward the floor.
Emily screamed, clutching the rugged laptop tighter to her chest as the upload bar ticked to seventy percent.
Vance kicked Marcus’s dropped gun away, his cold, dead eyes locking onto the glowing screen in Emily’s hands.
He raised his rifle, aiming directly at the center of Emily's forehead.
Suddenly, Marcus desperately swept his good leg forward, knocking Vance’s heavy boots out from under him.
The security chief tumbled backward, his wild shot going wide and shattering the overhead fluorescent light.
The room plunged into absolute darkness, illuminated only by the frantic green glow of the laptop.
Marcus yelled out into the pitch-black room, begging Emily to take the ventilation shaft behind the server rack.
Emily scrambled over the fallen cables, her fingers blindly tracing the edge of a loose metal grate.
She kicked the grate inward with her heavy, sensible shoe and shoved the laptop into the narrow duct.
The progress bar hit ninety percent just as she squeezed her shoulders through the tight, dusty opening.
A massive hand suddenly clamped around her ankle, pulling her violently backward.
Emily kicked backward with all her might, her heel connecting squarely with Vance’s nose.
The brute let go with a muffled curse, allowing Emily to scramble deeper into the cold, metallic throat of the ventilation system.
She pulled the laptop close to her face, watching breathlessly as the upload bar finally hit one hundred percent.
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A bright green checkmark flashed across the screen, confirming the cartel’s files had successfully reached the FBI.
She slammed the laptop shut, plunging the cramped shaft into terrifying, suffocating darkness.
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