Chapter 6 - The Secret of St. Jude Clinic
"They're breaching the courtyard!" Marcus shouted, drawing his sidearm and taking a tactical position near the study doors. "It's Falcone's main strike force!"
Victor moved with terrifying, fluid speed. He pulled two heavy tactical pistols from his vest, throwing his midnight-black tuxedo jacket over his shoulder.
"Marcus! Take Clara and Ellie through the subterranean elevator to the lower boathouse!" Victor ordered. "Get them on the interceptor boat and head for the island fortress!"
"Victor, no! I'm not leaving you!" Clara yelled, reaching out and grabbing his broad forearm.
Victor looked down at her hand on his sleeve, then met her eyes with a look of fierce, unyielding devotion. "I spent eight years living in the dark without you, Clara. I will not lose you again. Go with Marcus!"
He bent down, kissing Ellie's forehead softly, then pressed a small silver key into Clara's palm. "This opens the master safe at the island fortress. Inside is the original bloodline covenant. Protect it."
Before Clara could argue, Marcus guided her and Ellie into the hidden elevator shaft, closing the heavy steel doors as automatic rounds began to shred the mahogany paneling of the study.
Victor turned around to face the main hallway. Three Falcone breachers dressed in black tactical gear burst through the study doors, their rifles raised.
Victor fired four controlled shots in rapid succession. The lead breachers collapsed to the Persian rug before they could even adjust their aim.
Victor advanced through the smoke-filled corridor like an invincible warlord, his broad frame absorbing the recoil of his heavy weapons as he neutralized five more intruders on the grand staircase.
Down in the subterranean boathouse beneath the cliff, Marcus ushered Clara and Ellie onto a high-speed, matte-black interceptor boat tied to the concrete pier.
The boat's twin marine engines roared to life with a deep, powerful thrum as Marcus cast off the heavy lines.
"Where are we going?" Clara asked over the roar of the engines as the boat surged out of the sea cave into the storm-tossed ocean.
"To St. Jude's Private Clinic," Marcus replied, his eyes fixed on the rain-swept horizon. "Before we go to the island, we need the original paper intake ledger from eight years ago. It's locked in the clinic's sub-basement archive."
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"Why?" Clara asked.
"Because that ledger contains the finger-prints of the doctor who delivered Ellie," Marcus said grimly. "And that doctor was Don Falcone himself."
