Chapter 9 - The Siege
"Patterson..." Naomi whispered, tears of rage brimming in her eyes. "He was part of it from the beginning."
"He was their cleanup man," Dominic said, his voice dropping into a dark, lethal register. "And now he pays."
Before they could remove the drive, the server room lights flashed red. An alarm blared through the subterranean corridors.
"Alert: Facility Breach," an automated voice echoed over the intercom. "Lockdown initiated."
The heavy steel doors slammed shut, locking Naomi and Dominic inside the server room. On the security monitor outside, Magistrate Arthur Reed stood alongside Dr. Howard Patterson and a dozen heavily armed private security guards.
"You were foolish to enter my house, Thorne!" Arthur Reed’s voice echoed through the room's speakers. "This room is reinforced steel. In ten minutes, I will flood the oxygen valves with carbon monoxide. You and your little nurse will sleep forever."
Dr. Patterson looked into the camera, his face twisted with malicious pity. "I’m sorry, Naomi. You were a good nurse. But you asked too many questions—just like Clara."
Naomi stood up, her grief transforming into cold, sharp diamond fury. She looked around the server room. As an ER trauma nurse, she understood pressure, chemicals, and human anatomy better than anyone.
"Dominic," she said, turning to him. "How fast can your team breach those doors from the outside?"
"Five minutes," Dominic said, pulling a radio from his belt. "My assault squad is already moving into the basement."
"Good," Naomi said, walking over to the server room's emergency medical station and high-voltage power lines. "Then let's give them something to worry about while we wait."
May you like
Using her surgical knowledge, Naomi stripped two live high-voltage cables and connected them to the automated sprinkler system pipes running through the ceiling into the outer hallway.
"When they open those doors," Naomi said, her eyes flashing, "they’re going to get a shock."
