CHAPTER 9
Automatic gunfire raked across the walls of the interview room, sending plaster dust and shattered glass flying through the air like a blizzard.
I reacted instantly, grabbing Silas by his coat collar and yanking him down beneath the heavy oak table just as a second burst shattered the overhead lights.
"Down! Stay down!" I roared, drawing my Glock and shielding Silas's body entirely with my own as emergency alarms began blaring throughout the station.
Heavy boots slammed against the hallway tile outside the room as two armed men wearing black tactical masks pushed through the broken door frame.
"Find the boy!" a harsh, raspy voice shouted above the blaring sirens. "He knows where the master key is!"
I leaned around the edge of the oak table, firing three rapid shots into the chest of the lead gunman, dropping him instantly to the floor.
The second gunman swung his rifle toward my position, but I drove forward, slamming my shoulder into his midsection before he could clear his sights.
We crashed onto the hard tile floor, fighting wildly for control of the weapon as I drove my right elbow hard into his jawline.
The blow dazed him just long enough for me to strip the rifle from his grip and push him back onto the floor, securing him at gunpoint as tactical officers flooded the corridor.
"Officer Reed!" Agent Vance shouted, bursting into the room with his weapon drawn, surrounded by a heavy SWAT entry team. "Are you alright?!"
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"We're clear here!" I called out, wiping blood from a minor glass cut on my forehead as I reached down to pull Silas out from beneath the table.
The young boy was trembling violently, but his eyes were locked onto mine with an unshakeable, profound trust that held us both steady amidst the destruction.
