Chapter 17 17

Chapter 17 17

Seven Long minutes crawled by as gunshots continued to echo through the hospital halls, sometimes near, sometimes distant, which confused Blaze, who was hiding with Locke, if they were actually shooting at anything or if the shots were to scare them.

He was crouched against a wall, beads of perspiration dripping from his temple and his finger twitching against the trigger. His backup hadn't arrived yet, which was very unusual. It just never happened. When he called for backup, he exorcised them to be there in a couple minutes.

The latest they'd ever taken to arrive was five minutes. Which was why the gears were turning inside his head as he cursed under his breath and pulled the phone again, before dialing his private security line. The call connected, but to his shock, it wasn't the voice of his men that he heard.

The voice was speaking to someone else but soon suddenly stopped. And that's when a stranger's voice slithered through the receiver in a low and mocking tone.

"Blaze Stone. Finally, I wasn't expecting you would call so soon."

Blaze's heart went still as his grip tightened around the phone. How the hell had his call been intercepted.

"Who the fuck is this?"

The laugh that followed was cold and chillingly hollow. "This is the sound of your end. Your empire and that of your brothers will rot from the inside. You're going to watch your death come and you’ll be unable to do anything about it. But don't worry, I'll make it quick. And once you're gone, I'll take care of your men. Your men will bleed like pigs in the street. Tonight, your name dies with you and the name of every other Stone."

Blaze's lips peeled back in a snarl at the threat. He wouldn't have thought of it as anything if not for the fact that the threat was real.

They had been surrounded and every form of communication outside the hospital was basically impossible, meaning he wouldn't be able to contact his men at all. It sent a chill careening down his spine.

"You think you can scare me, you snivelling piece of shit?"

The voice didn't flinch. "I don't need to scare you. Fear is already here. Look around you. Every single person in there is going to die. And by now, considering how fucked up your situation is, I know you're starting to comprehend how deep into trouble you are. I'll make your death quick if you just give up and surrender yourself. You have a chance now."

And before he could respond, the line went dead. Blaze pulled the phone down slowly, his eyes burning with so much anger now. It was no longer news at this point that the comms were compromised. His men weren't coming. And he was fucked. He stood up now, muscles tense as steel cables.

"Locke! We're done waiting. We end this ourselves."

Locke swallowed hard, his jaw tight. "Boss, there are at least five of them. Fully armed."

"Five," Blaze repeated, cocking his gun with a snap. "That's five dead bodies waiting to happen."

They started moving, guns raised and each time they stopped at at the end of a hallway, he stopped for a moment and quickly turned into the new hallway, fingers poised over the trigger so he could blow the head of whoever he would turn into, but for the first two hallways they ran into nothing.

Just unsettling silence and an empty hallway. But that's when Blaze paused, realising something. His head snapped towards Locke at the thought.

"Go to the surveillance room. You're going to call me. And I'm going to need you to guide me from there. You can't fuck this up. If you do, we're both dead."

"Locke blinked, shocked. "What? You can't fight them alone. Besides, every call you make automatically connects with whoever you just spoke with."

"No, every call I make to someone outside the hospital connects to them, but if it's within the hospital, it shouldn't."

"Shouldn't? You're not even sure?"

"You heard me," Blaze snapped, fed up with the questions. They were wasting valuable time talking rather than acting and considering the situation, every second was precious. "You'll have eyes on every hallway. You'll call me when they move. That's how we win."

The last word was said with a sound close to a snarl. Locke hesitated, his pulse hammering in his ears. Another sound of gunfire erupted, causing the walls to tremble.

"Boss, you'll get killed." Blaze shoved a burner phone into his chest with a proximity card too, eyes blazing. "Take this. It can't be tracked. Call me from there. And I'll make sure I'm not the one who dies. Make sure you get through that door and call me the second you do. Don't waste a fucking second."

Locke swallowed hard, nodded and took off. The silence, as he bounded off towards the surveillance room, was terrifying. It was too quiet. And just when he turned into the third hallway, his eyes flicked to the side, and then he ran across a figure.

His nerves went ablaze with fear. An armed man ran after him, rifle raised. Locke’s instinct was screaming. He dropped low just as the trigger was pulled.

The bullet tore through the plaster above his head, dust raining down. He rolled behind the corner of the wall, heart hammering, breath ragged. The boot of his assailant was stomping closer. He pressed his back against the wall, counting the seconds.

Three... Two...

The man stepped into the open, barrel first. Locke spun out, raised his gun and fired once. The man stumbled back, before a wet gasp tore from his throat before he hit the floor.

Locke didn't waste a second, he bolted down the hall until he reached the heavy steel door of the surveillance room.

He swiped the keycard, and then the loco clicked, before the thick door swung open. He rushed into the empty room. There was no sound but the humming of machines. He turned to the monitors, scanning every camera feed.

And what he saw made his blood run cold. On one of the screens, Domenico stood outside the hiding room with the doctors. He was behind cover.

He wasn't safe. And from the opposite hallway, an armed man was already closing in, rifle raised.

"Fuck," Locke hissed, his hand flying to the phone. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!"