Chapter 23 - The Seventh Soldier
Richard backed away from the ventilation grate and looked directly at Margaret.
She understood immediately.
"The ladder," she whispered.
Emily frowned.
"What ladder?"
Margaret crossed the room and pulled aside a rusted cabinet that appeared far too heavy for someone her age. Hidden behind it was a narrow maintenance shaft with an iron ladder disappearing into darkness.
"I helped build this escape route," she said.
Olivia stared.
"You were here?"
Margaret nodded.
"I wasn't always a doctor."
Outside the operating room, Daniel Voss's footsteps stopped.
His voice echoed through the hallway.
"Harold Bennett protected six traitors."
Margaret's face hardened.
"No."
"He protected heroes."
The door handle slowly turned.
Richard sprang toward the ladder and barked sharply.
Emily helped Elizabeth begin climbing while Olivia gathered the metal case containing the photographic film.
Just as Margaret reached the ladder, the operating room door burst open.
Three armed men rushed inside.
"Stop!"
One guard aimed his weapon.
Before he could fire, the surgical lights hanging from the ceiling suddenly crashed to the floor.
Glass exploded across the room.
The guards instinctively ducked.
Richard raced between them, weaving through the falling debris before disappearing into the shaft.
Olivia climbed after him.
Behind her, Margaret pulled a small lever hidden beside the ladder.
Ancient gears groaned deep within the walls.
The entire ladder began folding upward like a drawbridge.
One guard lunged forward.
His fingertips missed Margaret's boot by less than an inch.
The hatch slammed shut.
Darkness surrounded them once again.
Only their breathing echoed inside the narrow shaft.
Several floors below, Daniel Voss looked upward with cold determination.
"They remembered every escape route."
One of his men approached.
"Sir... should we continue?"
Voss slowly smiled.
"No."
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"They're climbing exactly where Harold wanted them to go."
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