Chapter 6
The manufactured shout hung in the air, echoing artificially down the hollow corridor outside. Inside the room, the silence returned instantly, heavy and charged with adrenaline. Clara stood near the heart monitor, her hand resting lightly on the cold plastic casing, while Julian stood poised near the heavy wooden door, his body weight balanced on the balls of his feet.
Seconds ticked by like hours. The rhythmic beep of the monitor felt deafening.
Suddenly, the heavy click of a magnetic lock disengaging vibrated through the frame. The door handle turned slowly, descending with mechanical precision. A crack of light widened as the heavy barrier swung inward, pushed by a gloved hand holding a silenced pistol.
Before the intruder could fully step across the threshold, Julian moved. With the explosive speed of a trained athlete, he slammed his shoulder into the door, catching the gunman squarely in the chest and sending him sprawling backward onto the polished terrazzo of the hallway floor.
Clara rushed forward, kicking the dropped weapon away with her red high heel. It skidded across the floor, coming to rest near the base of a vending machine ten feet away.
The intruder was a stocky man in dark security scrubs, a black balaclava pulled down to obscure his face. He groaned, clutching his ribs where Julian had impacted him, but his hand was already reaching toward his ankle holster for a backup blade.
"Don't move," Julian commanded, pinning the man’s shoulder to the floor with the heel of his Italian leather shoe. He leaned down, wrenching the mask away to reveal the scarred face of a known corporate fixer who frequently handled illegal acquisitions for Vance Pharmaceuticals. "Vince," Julian spat, recognizing the man instantly. "Marcus isn't even trying to hide his pawns anymore."
The fixer spat a glob of blood onto the floor, smiling a broken, yellow-toothed smile. "You think you're smart, Vance? You're ten steps behind. The hospital's main server room is currently uploading Maya's research data to an offshore server. By morning, her patents won't belong to her, and she won't be around to contest the transfer."
Clara’s heart seized. She looked past the pinned man toward the nurse’s station visible through the glass wall of the room. "The server room is down the hall on this exact floor. That's why they cleared the ward."
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Julian didn't hesitate. He secured the fixer’s hands behind his back with plastic zip-ties he pulled from his own suit jacket. "Stay here," he told Clara, his voice brooking no argument. "Lock this door from the inside and don't open it for anyone unless I give the password."
"No," Clara said, stepping forward with the wrapped glass shard in her hand. "We go together. Marcus is my brother-in-law too, and he tried to frame me for murder. This ends tonight."
