Chapter 5 - The Siege at Midnight
“Dela?” Mrs. Alvarez whispered, her eyes widening in terror as she stood up.
“Get Noah into the back bedroom,” I ordered, my voice dropping into a cold, steady register I didn't know I possessed. “Lock the door. Don't come out for anything.”
“Dela, the police—”
“They aren't police,” I said, grabbing the heavy iron fire iron from beside our tiny radiator.
A heavy thud shook the apartment door. The wooden frame splintered around the deadbolt.
On the video call, Lucian’s face darkened into a mask of pure, lethal fury.
“Adrian,” Lucian commanded into an earpiece off-screen. “Breach the third-floor landing at 814 Highland Avenue. If anyone touches her, leave no survivors.”
The phone screen went black as the connection dropped.
The front door crashed inward with a deafening splinter of wood and iron. Two men in tactical black gear, wearing Mercy County private security insignia, poured into the narrow hallway.
Dr. Marcus Bell stood behind them, his face twisted in a manic, desperate grin, holding a silenced pistol.
“I told you to drop it, Nurse Marsh,” Bell sneered, stepping over the wreckage of the door. “You and your mother both. Always sticking your nose where it doesn't belong.”
I backed slowly into the kitchen, keeping the iron poker raised. “You killed her, didn't you? The aneurysm was induced, or neglected.”
“She had a weak heart, Dela. All I did was stop refilling the prescription she needed while she was on shift,” Bell said casually, as if discussing hospital cafeteria menus. “And now, unfortunately, you’re going to suffer from a very similar medical emergency.”
Bell raised the silenced pistol.
Before he could pull the trigger, the windows of the living room shattered inward in a shower of glass and thunder.
Dark figures dropped like falling angels from the fire escape, crashing through the broken window frames with military precision. Before Bell’s security guards could even raise their weapons, suppressors coughed twice in rapid succession. Both guards dropped instantly, neutralizing the threat without a single stray bullet.
Adrian stepped through the shattered glass, his submachine gun leveled directly at Dr. Bell’s chest.
Bell froze, dropping his pistol to the floor with a metallic clatter. His face turned the color of curdled milk.
“Dr. Marcus Bell,” Adrian said, his voice flat and emotionless. “You are under citizen’s arrest by order of Lucian Vale.”
“You can't do this! I’m the head administrator of Mercy County!” Bell shrieked, backing away until his spine hit the kitchen wall.
“You’re a murderer and a thief,” I said, stepping forward.
I didn't use the iron poker. I simply walked up to him and slapped him across the face with every ounce of exhaustion, grief, and fury I had accumulated over the past four years.
Bell staggered back, clutching his cheek.
“Take him to the harbor warehouse,” Adrian ordered the two operatives flanking him. “Make sure the federal prosecutor receives the original audit files by midnight.”
As Bell was dragged screaming out of our ruined apartment, Adrian turned to me.
“Are you and your brother unharmed, Ms. Marsh?”
May you like
“We’re fine,” I breathed, looking around the destroyed living room. My security deposit was definitely gone. “Where is Lucian?”
“He is currently resolving a few administrative details at the precinct,” Adrian replied smoothly. “He asked if you would be willing to visit him. To settle the final balance.”
