Chapter 6 - The Midnight Transfer"We don't have time for a statement," Daniel said, his military instincts taking over instantly. He turned to Sarah, who had already rolled a clean, unmarked linen transport cart into the room from the rear service elevator. "Sarah, kill the monitor feeds. Loop the telemetry from Bay 2 so the central desk thinks her heart is still beating in this bed."
Within ninety seconds, the trauma bay became a covert staging ground. They dressed Claire in an oversized blue industrial janitorial uniform, pulling a heavy canvas cap low over her bruised face. Miller used her authority to lock the main front glass doors of the ICU from the inside, giving them a precious two-minute window before the sheriffs could use their override keys.
The descent down the hospital’s concrete service elevator was dead silent, save for the heavy, wet breathing of Claire, who was tucked low between two industrial laundry bins on the cart. The elevator doors opened into the cold, concrete expanse of the basement loading dock, where a private, unbadged ambulance—obtained through Daniel's old connections at a nearby veteran's outpost—was waiting with its diesel engine idling.
"Go!" Miller yelled as she stayed by the elevator panel, her hand resting on her service weapon. "Two black SUVs just pulled into the upper gate. They're tracking her phone's GPS!"
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Daniel slammed his hand onto Claire’s purse, pulling out her smartphone and throwing it violently down the dark concrete elevator shaft, where it shattered into pieces at the bottom. He leaped into the back of the ambulance just as Sarah slammed the heavy rear doors shut.
The vehicle lunged forward, its tires screaming on the wet concrete as it burst out of the loading dock into the blinding, midnight rainstorm. Behind them, through the rear glass windows, Daniel could see the twin yellow headlights of Julian Vance's security detail pivoting sharply, their tires throwing up massive plumes of muddy water as they gave chase into the dark.
