Chapter 13 - The Uninvited Guest
"That’s not one of our officers," Detective Miller cursed under his breath, recognizing the stranger instantly from the live surveillance feed. He keyed his tactical radio with his left hand while keeping his service pistol raised. "Dispatch, this is Miller. We have an unauthorized civilian near the medical unit in the driveway. Secure the perimeter immediately!"
Static hissed from the radio speaker, followed by a strange, garbled feedback loop that sounded like someone deliberately jamming the transmission frequency.
"The radio is blocked," Chloe whispered, her eyes wide with terror as she stared at the glowing monitor screens. "Grandma had a signal blocker installed in the foundation during the last renovation. She told my father about it—it cuts off all cellular and radio signals within a fifty-foot radius of the house."
Elena’s heart pounded against her ribs like a sledgehammer. Toby was out there alone in the driveway, separated from them by a wall of high-frequency static and a man holding a heavy iron chain.
"We have to go back up right now," Elena said, her voice dropping to a desperate, urgent whisper as she sprinted toward the basement stairs.
Miller and Chloe followed close behind, their boots clattering against the concrete steps as they burst back through the bulkhead doors into the cool night air. The driveway was bathed in the harsh, rotating red and blue lights of the squad cars, but the eerie silence of the signal blocker hung heavy over the property.
The police officers who had been securing the perimeter were nowhere to be seen. Instead, three uniform caps lay scattered haphazardly across the wet gravel near the rear bumper of the ambulance.
Elena rushed toward the back of the medical vehicle, her breath catching in her throat as she threw open the rear doors.
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The ambulance interior was empty. The medical equipment was tossed in disarray, and Toby’s blue t-shirt lay torn on the floor, stained with fresh drops of dark red blood.
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