Chapter 17 - The Cell in the Shadows
Elena slid out of the crushed passenger door, dropping low behind the reinforced rear axle. The rain soaked her silk blouse instantly, plastering her dark hair to her face, but her hands were rock steady.
*Bang! Bang!*
Elena fired twice through the blinding sheets of rain. The lead gunman collapsed onto the wet asphalt, clutching his shattered kneecap. Julian surged forward like a panther, closing the distance beneath the muzzle flashes. He swept the second operative’s legs, disarmed him in a fraction of a second, and fired the captured weapon into the engine block of the oncoming support car, igniting a blinding flash of magnesium fire.
The remaining mercenaries, realizing the ambush had collapsed, scrambled back into their getaway vehicles and sped into the night, tires smoking against the wet pavement.
Julian rushed back to Elena, dragging her against his chest, inspecting her with frantic, trembling hands. "Are you hit? Talk to me, Elena!"
"I'm fine! I'm fine!" she gasped, adrenaline surging through her veins like fire. "Look at their tactical vests."
Julian ripped the insignia from the dead mercenary’s collar. It was the private security badge of the *St. Jude High-Security Psychiatric Facility*—the very facility where Victoria Sterling was supposed to be sedated and monitored twenty-four hours a day.
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"They didn't break Victoria out," Julian whispered, horror dawning on his face. "The hospital staff was bought off from the beginning. She was never a prisoner. She was using the psychiatric asylum as an untouchable headquarters to plan this war!"
"They’re heading to Blackwood Manor," Elena said, her hazel eyes hardening into raw steel. "We take their vehicle. We finish this."
