Chapter 7 - Standoff at Sunset
""Under the desk. Now!"" I whispered fiercely, shoving Emily and Noah toward the deep kneehole beneath Arthur’s heavy mahogany executive desk. Arthur, displaying courage far beyond his years, grabbed a brass desk lamp and positioned himself beside the wooden door, his knuckles white against the metal base.
The emergency exit lights in the corridor cast an eerie, sickly red glow beneath the crack of the office door. Through the thin wood, we could hear the methodical approach of footsteps. Whoever was out there wasn't rushing. They were moving room by room, checking handles with quiet, mechanical precision.
""Emily,"" I whispered, reaching into my pocket and pulling out the silver flash drive, having slipped it off the folder minutes earlier. ""Take this. If anything happens to me, you run out the fire door behind Arthur's bookcase. Do you hear me? You don't look back.""
""Mom, no, please—"" she sobbed silently, but I pressed the cold metal into her palm and curled her fingers shut over it.
The brass doorknob jiggled. Once. Twice. Then came the brutal impact of a heavy shoulder striking the frame. The wooden door shuddered, paint chips showering down like dry leaves.
""Mrs. Hayes!"" a muffled voice called out from the darkness. ""Federal agents! Step back from the entrance!""
Before Arthur could react, the door burst open with a deafening crash, splintering along the strike plate. Two tactical officers in dark body armor with high-powered flashlights mounted to their carbines swept into the room, blinding us with cutting beams of white light. Behind them stepped a woman in a dark windbreaker with yellow letters emblazoned across the back: FBI. Special Agent Sarah Lin.
""Clear!"" the lead officer barked, lowering his muzzle toward the floorboards.
""Turn on the auxiliary generator, team two,"" Agent Lin ordered into her shoulder radio before looking down at our huddled group beneath the desk. ""Martha Hayes? Emily Hayes?""
Arthur lowered the brass lamp, letting out a ragged gasp of relief, while Emily collapsed forward against the carpet, clutching her children so tightly that Oliver woke up and began to cry. I stood up, smoothing down my ruined cardigan, my knees trembling so violently I had to lean against the edge of the desk to keep from falling.
""You took your sweet time, Agent Lin,"" I managed to say, my voice raspy but steady.
Lin offered a tight, grim smile. ""We had to intercept Vance’s driver in the parking lot first. Vance cut the building’s power main from the utility box outside before attempting to enter through the rear gymnasium.""
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""Did you catch him?"" Emily choked out, lifting her head from the floor. ""Is Marcus Vance in custody?""
Lin’s smile faded, replaced by a cold, hardened edge. ""He slipped into the marshland bordering the river before our perimeter was fully established. But he left his vehicle behind, his accounts are frozen, and our tracking teams have infrared drones in the air right now. He has nowhere left to run. But we need that blue folder, Emily. Right now. We need the encryption keys before his overseas partners realize he’s been compromised.""
