Chapter 16 - The Cavalry Arrives
Flashing red and blue lights painted the corrugated walls in frantic strokes. Heavy footsteps thudded against the concrete as a tactical unit of federal marshals, led by local state police, swarmed the warehouse with weapons drawn.
"Federal Marshals! Nobody move! Drop your weapons!" a commanding voice echoed through the cavernous space.
David’s smug smirk vanished instantly, replaced by a look of sheer panic. He fumbled with the remote control, trying to press the button to widen the pit, but Adam lunged forward with the speed of a striking panther.
Adam vaulted up the metal staircase leading to the catwalk, tackling David hard against the steel railing. The remote flew from David’s hand, clattering over the edge and plunging into the dark water below.
"Get your hands behind your back!" Two federal marshals rushed up the stairs, subduing David and snapping heavy steel cuffs around his wrists with practiced efficiency.
Down on the main floor, another team of officers rushed to the steel pillar, cutting Marcus free from his ropes and removing the tape from his mouth. Marcus coughed, rubbing his wrists, and glared at David as the older man was dragged past him down the stairs.
"Took you long enough," Marcus rasped, accepting a bottle of water from a medic. "I left that trail open specifically for the tactical GPS ping."
Adam walked down the metal stairs, breathing heavily, his eyes still burning with adrenaline. He walked straight to me, pulling me into his arms and burying his face in my neck. "Are you okay? Did he touch you?"
"I'm fine, Adam. I'm okay," I murmured, holding him just as tightly, feeling the solid, living reality of him against my body.
David glared back at us as two officers pushed him toward the exit, his face twisted in bitter fury. "You think this is over?" he shouted over the wailing sirens. "Evelyn has friends inside! You haven't seen the last of us!"
"Take him away," the lead marshal ordered coldly, shoving David into the back of a waiting transport van.
As the convoy of police cruisers peeled away from the docks into the rainy night, the heavy fog seemed to lift slightly, revealing the pale dawn breaking over the horizon. We had survived the trap, but David’s parting words echoed ominously in my mind: *Evelyn has friends inside.*
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If David was just the outside executor, who else was involved in the prison? And what were they planning next?
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