Chapter 5: The Confrontation
Thomas reached the door, rattling the handle with increasing frustration. Seeing Clara through the glass, he forced a strained, placating smile, though his eyes burned with manic desperation.
"Clara, open the door," he said, his voice muffled by the thick pane. "Let me see my daughter. Let's talk about this like adults."
Clara didn't move an inch. "Step away from the door, Thomas. Security is right behind you."
Thomas’s facade crumbled instantly. He slammed his fist against the reinforced glass. "You don't understand what you're interfering with! That drive doesn't belong to me! If I don't hand it over by midnight, neither of us makes it out of this town!"
"You made our twelve-year-old child swallow it!" Clara yelled back, her voice shaking with raw fury. "You used your own flesh and blood as a drug mule!"
The commotion drew the attention of the two security guards at the end of the hall. "Sir! Step back from the door immediately!" one called out, reaching for his utility belt.
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Thomas realized he was out of time. He cast one last venomous glare at Clara, turned abruptly, and fled toward the emergency stairwell, shoving a nurse aside as he disappeared into the lower levels.
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