Chapter 10 - Crossfire on the Tarmac
The tarmac erupted into absolute chaos as state police cruisers swarmed the airstrip, their sirens wailing in a deafening crescendo of blue and red light. Officers poured from their vehicles, taking cover behind open doors and leveling their weapons at Arthur’s private security detail.
Marcus cursed violently, lowering his rifle just an inch as the crossfire threat became an inescapable reality.
"Hold your fire! Don't engage the state police!" Marcus barked into his tactical radio, his eyes darting frantically toward the burning perimeter fence.
Arthur Vance, however, did not flinch. His face hardened into a mask of pure desperation. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a heavy-duty satellite communicator, pressing the emergency override button.
"Initiate Protocol Zero," Arthur commanded into the device, his voice chillingly calm. "If I don't clear the perimeter in sixty seconds, purge all primary servers at the downtown research hub. Leave nothing behind."
From behind a police cruiser fifty yards away, Detective Elena Ramos stood up, holding a megaphone to her mouth. Her voice echoed sharply across the wet concrete.
"Arthur Vance! Drop your communications device and step away from the security detail! You are under federal and state arrest for corporate espionage, kidnapping, and human experimentation!"
Arthur ignored her entirely. He turned to Marcus, grabbing the security chief by the lapel of his tactical jacket.
"Get me to that jet, Marcus! I don't care who gets in the way! If we don't get the boy out of the country tonight, everything we built is gone!"
Before Marcus could react, Federal Marshal Thomas Vance sprinted toward the open boarding ramp of the Gulfstream, shielding little Leo with his own body. The puppy scrambled up the metal steps right behind them, its paws clicking frantically against the aluminum.
Marcus shoved Arthur toward the jet and shouldered his rifle once more, swinging the barrel toward Thomas’s back just as the federal agent reached the cabin door.
"Not today," Marcus growled, squeezing his finger onto the trigger.
A sharp crack echoed across the tarmac. But the bullet didn't hit Thomas. Instead, a sniper round fired from one of the state police positions smashed directly into the barrel of Marcus’s rifle, shattering the steel and tearing the weapon from his hands with a violent spark.
Marcus screamed, clutching his bleeding, mangled hand as he collapsed onto the wet pavement.
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Arthur stumbled backward up the stairs of the jet, his eyes wide with sheer panic as the cabin door slid shut automatically, locking him inside with his destiny.
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