Chapter 20 - The Rescue from the Sky
The heavy iron grate of the utility shaft had been shattered.
Detective Vance dropped through the opening, his service weapon firing before his boots even hit the concrete floor. The shot struck the second operator’s shoulder, sending him crashing into the metal shelves.
Marcus followed immediately, holding a heavy iron pipe, throwing his weight into Silvio Lombardi and knocking the older man to the floor.
"Sarah! Go!" Marcus yelled.
Sarah didn't look back. She ran to the utility shaft, where Leo was looking down from the opening, his face pale but his eyes shining with pure, unyielding relief.
"Mom! Grab my hand!" Leo shouted, leaning down as far as he could.
Sarah grabbed his hand, his grip surprisingly strong and secure, and with Marcus’s help, she scrambled up the rusted iron rungs of the shaft into the fresh, cold air of the roof.
The autumn storm was still howling around them, but as Sarah stepped onto the gravel roof of the annex, she saw the flashing red and blue lights of a dozen state police cruisers pulling into the ambulance bay below.
Detective Vance had managed to re-establish the emergency satellite connection before the attack, and the state police tactical team had arrived to seal the facility.
Silvio Lombardi and his surviving operators were led out of the building in heavy steel handcuffs, their faces pale in the flashing lights as they were loaded into the back of the transport vans.
The battle was won. The forty million dollars was permanently frozen by the federal government, and the biometric key inside Leo’s arm was rendered useless, its encryption codes permanently deleted from the federal registry.
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Mark Vance walked up to Sarah and Leo, his face covered in soot but his eyes peaceful. He looked down at Leo’s right arm, then looked at Sarah.
"The doctor’s promise is kept," Vance said, a warm, genuine smile breaking through his tired face. "The past is officially dead, Sarah. You can go home now."
