Chapter 13 - Waking Up in the Fire
When consciousness slowly dragged David back to the surface, the first thing he felt was intense, searing heat, and the second was a sharp, throbbing pain at the back of his head where the rifle butt had struck him. He opened his eyes, coughing violently as thick, acrid black smoke filled his lungs. He was lying on the floor of Henderson’s private office inside the warehouse—the very room Henderson had mentioned earlier.
The dark leather couch he remembered from his living room—or an exact replica brought in by the syndicate—sat against the far wall, now consumed by hungry orange flames creeping up the wooden paneling.
"David! Wake up, David!"
A hand shook his uninjured shoulder roughly. David groaned, blinking away the stinging soot in his eyes to find Marcus kneeling beside him, his face streaked with black ash and blood.
"Marcus?" David coughed, pushing himself up onto his elbows. "Where... where is Lily?"
"Henderson took her and bolted out the back toward the dock just as the fire alarm tripped," Marcus shouted over the roaring crackle of spreading flames. "Some of our guys triggered an internal security lockout, which set off the sprinkler system—and the emergency sabotage charges Henderson planted."
David scrambled to his feet, his head spinning violently as the reality of the situation crashed down upon him. The office door was blocked by a collapsed wooden beam wrapped in blazing fire.
"We need to get out of here," David gasped, grabbing Marcus by the arm and pulling him toward the high, reinforced glass window overlooking the riverfront.
Before they could reach the window, a familiar figure stepped out from behind a stack of burning storage crates near the corner of the room. It was Elena. Her silk beige shirt was torn and stained with soot, her hair disheveled, holding a heavy fire extinguisher in her hands.
"Elena?" David snarled, stepping protectively in front of Marcus despite his dizziness. "Did you come back to finish the job?"
Elena shook her head frantically, tears cutting clean tracks through the grime on her cheeks.
"I didn't know they were going to burn the building down, David," Elena cried out, her voice breaking completely. "Henderson double-crossed all of us. He locked Lily in the shipping container on the freighter, and he’s planning to sink it in deep water so no one ever finds the ledger!"
Marcus stared at his sister, his expression a mix of fury and disbelief.
"Then prove you're not entirely a monster, Lina," Marcus yelled over the roar of the fire. "Help us break this window, and take us to the dock before that ship leaves!"
Elena didn't hesitate. She swung the heavy metal base of the fire extinguisher against the reinforced glass window with all her remaining strength. With a loud, echoing crash, the glass shattered outward into the cool night air, letting a rush of fresh, oxygen-rich wind sweep into the burning room.
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David didn't look back. He vaulted through the broken window frame into the darkness below, knowing he had only minutes to reach the freighter before his daughter was lost forever.
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