Chapter 9 - The Garage Confrontation
The cold steel of the pistol barrel pressed directly against Marcus’s forehead, gleaming wickedly in the dim fluorescent flicker of the underground parking garage. A large, heavily built man in a black tactical vest sneered behind a black balaclava.
"End of the line, boys and girls," the guard rumbled, his voice distorted slightly by his comms headset. "Drop the laptop and step away from the door, or the hero gets a new hole in his skull."
Elena didn't hesitate. Before the guard could shift his aim toward her, she slipped past Marcus’s shoulder with the silent grace of a predator, driving the jagged stem of the crystal flute upward with all her remaining strength.
The glass caught the guard directly in the soft flesh beneath his tactical vest. He let out a choked gasp, dropping the pistol as his hands flew instinctively to his side.
Before he could recover, David swung the heavy iron wrench with a sickening thud against the side of the man's helmet, sending him crashing unconscious onto the oil-stained concrete.
Marcus exhaled a long, shaky breath, wiping sweat from his forehead. "Remind me never to get on your bad side, Elena."
"Save the commentary," Elena panted, her chest heaving as she kicked the fallen pistol away from the unconscious guard's reach. "There's still at least one more out here."
As if on cue, the screech of tires echoed through the cavernous parking garage. A second tactical guard rounded the corner in a black ATV, revving the engine and charging directly toward them with blinding headlights.
"Get down!" David shouted, shoving Elena and Marcus behind a concrete support pillar just as a volley of rubber-coated riot rounds slammed into the concrete where they had been standing, sending concrete dust and sparks flying into the air.
Marcus scrambled toward the unconscious guard, ripping the tactical radio off his belt and hurling it across the garage floor to create a loud distraction. The ATV veered toward the noise, its tires squealing on the slick floor.
"Now, David! To the car!" Marcus yelled, sprinting toward his dark blue sedan parked twenty yards away.
Elena sprinted beside him, her bare feet ignoring the sharp bits of gravel and broken glass littering the floor. David sprinted behind them, clutching the encrypted laptop against his chest like a newborn child.
Marcus unlocked the sedan with a frantic press of his key fob. They piled into the vehicle just as the ATV roared back around, its driver aiming the vehicle directly at the driver's side door of Marcus's car.
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Marcus slammed the gearshift into reverse, tires spinning wildly and smoking against the concrete before shooting backward just in time to avoid the catastrophic impact.
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