Chapter 7 - THE ROOFTOP ESCAPE
Back in VIP Suite 412, the air was thick with tension.
Isabella Vance paced between the overturned tray table and the shattered ceiling molding. Her cheek was dark red where Marcus had struck her, but the physical pain was nothing compared to the violent panic clawing at her chest.
The two hospital security guards stood by the closed door, their arms crossed, watching her every move.
"I need to use the restroom," Isabella snapped, wiping her sweaty palms against her silk trousers.
"You stay where you are, Ms. Vance," the senior guard said flatly. "Mr. Mercer’s orders."
"Mr. Mercer doesn't own this hospital!" she shrieked, her control completely slipping.
CLICK.
Suddenly, the electronic lock on the suite door chimed. The green indicator light flashed, and the door swung open.
A tall man in a crisp charcoal suit stepped into the room. He wore a gold badge pinned to his lapel—Captain Donald Hays of the 4th Precinct, the high-ranking police commander whose campaign Isabella had secretly funded with Mercer Global funds.
"Captain Hays!" Isabella gasped, her eyes lighting up with desperate relief. "Thank God you're here! These guards are illegally detaining me!"
Hays looked at the two security guards and waved a dismissive hand. "Step outside, boys. I'll take over from here."
The guards hesitated, but recognizing the captain’s authority, they stepped out into the hallway, allowing the door to click shut behind them.
The moment they were alone, Isabella grabbed Hays’s arm with frantic strength. "Donald, you have to get me out of here! The camera... there was a camera in the ceiling! I smashed it, but Marcus knows!"
"Calm down," Hays growled, pulling a black keycard from his pocket. "The local precinct received a disturbance call, but I intercepted the dispatch. I have a service vehicle waiting in the basement loading dock. We take the private service elevator on the north roof wing."
"Where are we going?" Isabella asked, her voice shaking as she pulled her designer coat over her ruined suit.
"Out of the country," Hays said coldly. "If Mercer sees that footage, he’ll use his federal connections to freeze your offshore accounts. We leave now."
They slipped out through the suite’s private rear exit, taking the maintenance stairwell up toward the roof access doors. Isabella’s heart pounded in her ears as she climbed the concrete stairs, her red heels clicking loudly against the steps.
She pushed open the heavy steel door leading to the rooftop helipad. The cold night air whipped against her face, bringing a surge of adrenaline.
"We made it," Isabella laughed hysterically, clutching her coat tight. "We actually—"
She stopped dead.
Standing near the edge of the helipad, illuminated by the bright security floodlights, were three tall figures in dark, tailored wool coats.
The center man was Dominic—six-foot-four, with broad shoulders and a face carved out of granite. To his right stood Julian, holding an open laptop, and to his left stood Gabriel, the family’s relentless financial auditor.
Captain Hays immediately reached for the holster at his hip. "Police! Stand down—"
Before Hays could unholster his sidearm, two dark SUVs parked on the lower maintenance ramp flashed their high beams. Four armed private tactical operatives stepped out of the shadows, their laser sights painting bright red dots across Hays’s chest and forehead.
Hays froze, his hand trembling on the grip of his gun.
"Drop the weapon, Captain," Dominic said softly. His voice wasn't loud, but it carried the absolute weight of a death sentence. "Unless you want your wife in Suburbia to find out about the three million dollars Isabella transferred to your offshore account last Tuesday."
Hays dropped his hands, pulling his fingers away from his holster as if the steel were white-hot.
Isabella backed away until her heel hit the metal door frame. "Who... who are you people?"
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Dominic walked forward slowly, his boots thudding softly against the concrete roof. He didn't look at Hays. He looked down at Isabella Vance with eyes that held no warmth, no mercy, and no humanity.
"We are the family you thought you could erase," Dominic said.
