Chapter 15: Face to Face
865 Words
The silver moonlight cutting through the floor-to-ceiling windows of Dr. Khalid's office felt entirely too cold. Audrey stood frozen beside the splintered mahogany desk, her fingers still tightly gripping the stolen medical file that proved Khalid was poisoning Damian Vance.
Every instinct in her body screamed at her to turn and scramble back up into the ventilation shaft, but her feet felt glued to the Persian rug.
A few feet away, the man in the tactical jacket stepped completely out of the shadows. The ballistic mask covering his face was completely smooth, devoid of any human expression, reflecting the blue tint of the security monitor he held. He casually tossed the monitor onto a nearby leather armchair, where the live feed of a frantic Julian Cross continued to flicker in silence.
"You're shaking, Audrey," the shadow murmured, his voice carrying that same calm, melodic purr from her text messages. He tilted his head, the dark lenses of his mask tracking the frantic rise and fall of her chest. "There’s no need to be afraid of me. I'm the only person in this entire hospital who isn't lying to you."
"Where is Vanessa?" Audrey forced the words out, her voice cracking under the weight of her terror. She kept her phone raised, the bright flashlight beam trembling violently as she aimed it directly at his chest.
The stalker chuckled, a low, vibrating sound that sent a fresh wave of nausea through her stomach. He raised his left hand, slowly dangling a heavy iron key from his gloved finger. "She’s resting. Safely tucked away in the storage closet down the hall. But her time is running out, and so is yours. Seven minutes left on the clock, sweetheart."
He took a slow, deliberate step toward her. The heavy thud of his tactical boots against the floor sounded like a death knell.
"Give me the file, Audrey," he commanded softly, extending his open right hand. "The doctor's little degradation schedule belongs to me now. With that file, I can ruin him completely. I can pull the strings that dismantle his entire elite legacy."
Audrey's mind spun at a thousand miles an hour. She looked down at the velvet-lined box of clear vials in her hand, then back up at the masked figure. "You... you're the one who intercepted Damian's medication tonight. You wanted Dr. Khalid to get blamed for it."
"Give the nurse a gold star," the shadow mocked, taking another step closer. The distance between them was closing fast. He was close enough now that Audrey could smell the sharp, metallic scent of rain and gun oil radiating from his jacket. "Khalid wanted Vance dead, yes. But I needed it to happen on my timeline. Now, be a good girl and hand over the paperwork. You get the key, you save the sister, and you get to play the hero for one more hour."
Audrey’s thumbs tightened against the edge of the medical chart. If I give him this file, he has total control over everyone. Julian, Khalid, Damian... and me.
"No," Audrey whispered.
The shadow stopped dead in his tracks. The playful, melodic tone instantly vanished from his posture, his frame turning rigid and terrifyingly still. "What did you just say?"
"I said no," Audrey said, a sudden spark of desperate adrenaline overriding her paralysis. "You've been watching me, tracking me, treating me like a pawn in your sick little game all night. If you want this file, you're going to unlock those fire doors first."
A heavy, suffocating silence fell over the office. The masked man stared at her for three agonizing seconds. Then, slowly, he reached toward the tactical holster strapped to his thigh.
Before he could draw his weapon, the glass windows behind him suddenly shattered inward with a deafening, explosive roar.
A heavy, black tactical rope swung through the broken glass, followed immediately by the boots of a heavily armed security guard. Julian Cross’s extraction team had finally breached the building from the exterior roof.
"Down on the ground! Do it now!" a voice roared through the flying glass.
The shadow didn't panic. With a fluid, terrifyingly fast motion, he grabbed Audrey by the front of her scrubs, ripping her forward to use her as a human shield. In the exact same breath, he aimed a compact flashbang grenade straight at the incoming guards.
BANG.
A blinding white light and a concussive shockwave tore through the office, knocking Audrey's phone from her hand and sending her crashing heavily to the floor. Her ears rang with a deafening buzz as she choked on the smoke and shattered glass.
Through the haze, she saw the silhouette of the stalker sprinting toward the office's private exit door. He didn't have the file—it was still clutched tightly under Audrey's arm—but as he threw the door open, he spun around one last time.
Even through the smoke and the ringing in her ears, Audrey heard his final words clear as day.
"This isn't over, Audrey. I'll see you at home."
- Writer
