Chapter 7 - The Road to Blackwood Medical
We reached the rusted corrugated-metal structure of the old pumping station as dawn threatened to crack the eastern horizon.
The storm had finally subsided into a dense, clinging fog that rolled across the pine valley like white smoke.
Miller kicked open the rusted utility hatch, revealing a warm, hum-filled interior lined with industrial water pipes and electrical conduits.
I quickly laid Clara on a clean work table, stripping off her wet garments and wrapping her in dry shop towels from a metal cabinet.
Her tiny lips were tinged with a faint bluish hue from the freezing night air.
"Come on, little girl," I whispered, performing gentle fingertip chest compressions to stimulate her circulation.
"Breathe for me, Clara.
Your mother is waiting for you.
After three tense, agonizing minutes, the child gasped, took a deep breath, and let out a healthy, indignant wail.
A profound sense of relief washed over me, and even Miller let out a ragged sigh of pure gratitude.
"You're an angel, Maya Sterling," Miller said softly, his voice thick with raw emotion.
"I treated you like a criminal on that highway, and you just saved my family twice over.
"We aren't out of the woods yet, Sheriff," I reminded him, pointing toward the heavy steel blast door at the back of the station.
The door had a keypad lock, but the heavy industrial hinges were old and corroded.
Miller pulled a heavy pipe wrench from the tool rack, wedged it behind the lock mechanism, and threw his full weight against it.
With a screech of tearing metal, the bolt sheared off, and the heavy door swung open into a pitch-black concrete tunnel.
A foul, chemical smell drifted from the dark corridor—a mixture of bleach, industrial disinfectant, and rotting stagnant water.
"This tunnel leads beneath the security perimeter of the Vance estate and emerges in the clinic's sub-basement," Miller said.
He checked his weapon, ejecting the magazine to count the remaining rounds.
"Six shots left," he muttered.
"We won't get a second chance at this.
"Sheriff, Vance will have armed guards stationed at every exit," I warned him.
"He knows Briggs failed to stop us, and he will be preparing to destroy any evidence that ties him to Julianne.
"Then we hit them before the morning shift arrives," Miller replied, his eyes burning with an icy determination.
He pulled a spare deputy badge from his pocket and pressed it into my palm.
"If anything happens to me in that basement, Maya, you take Clara and run through the north emergency exit.
"There is a state trooper barracks four miles up the road.
"Show them this badge and tell them Marcus Miller uncovered the Vance conspiracy.
"They will protect you.
"We are finishing this together, Sheriff," I told him, closing my fingers tightly around the silver star.
May you like
"Julianne needs both of us to get her out alive.
Together, with Clara bundled tightly against my chest, we stepped into the dark concrete mouth of the subterranean tunnel.
