The air in the St. Regis parking garage was thick with the smell of damp concrete and exhaust, but now it tasted like copper—the metallic tang of adrenaline. And the worst part, it was beginning to drizzle down rain. Like as if I wasn't in enough chaos already. With my son clinking on me while sleeping while we are in the open. I said a silent prayer to God to protect us.
"Miller, don't be a hero," Silas said, his voice dropping into a low, mercenary rasp that made my skin crawl. "The Reed family is a sinking ship. Why go down with them when you can get paid to jump off?"
Miller's tactical light danced across the oil-stained floor, his hands shaking but his aim steady. "We were hired to protect the Doctor, Silas. Not sell her out to a van full of shadows. Have you forgotten who we are?"
"I'm not asking again," Silas warned, his finger tightening on the trigger. You and I have been close colleagues from the very beginning of our joining the team and this is why I haven't pulled the trigger yet.
"But why Silas? Just how many of you are in with this betrayal here?" Miller asked the other two.
"How much was it that those fools paid you to sell your dignity Silas"? Justin asked, clearly stating to Miller he wasn't with Silas.
I felt Leo stir against my shoulder, his small breath hitching as he transitioned from deep sleep to a confused wakefulness. If he started crying now, the sound would shatter this fragile standoff and trigger a bloodbath. Behind me, Nanny B was a statue of pure terror, her fingers digging into the straps of the diaper bag.
What Silas didn't know—what he had ignored in his greed—was that I had followed the St. Regis strict "Private Detail" protocol the moment we checked in. I hadn't just brought my guards in; I had coordinated with the hotel's head of security, a man who took the hotel's reputation for absolute discretion and safety as a personal vow.
In the shadows of the mezzanine level above us, a hotel guard named Finmba had been monitoring the argument through his headset. He had heard every word of Silas's betrayal.
"You don't get to question me Finmba. I'm still your superior in this mission " Silas barked. "As for you Miller, don't make this harder than it already is."
"It would be over my dead body before I Miller will let you harm the doctor".
Then you ask ... .the words that came out of me, cut the rest of the words from silas.
"Miller, move!" I screamed, finally making my move.
Crack!
The sound of the first shot echoed like a cannon in the hollow garage. Silas hadn't waited. His bullet caught Miller in the shoulder, spinning him backward.
"Drop the weapon! St. Regis Security! Stand down!" A new voice boomed from the shadows of the entrance ramp.
Four hotel security officers charged down the ramp, their weapons drawn and their heavy-duty flashlights blinding the traitors. Silas didn't back down; he turned to fire at the newcomers, but Justin guard —the one standing with Miller—reacted with lightning speed. He fired a single, calculated incision of a shot that caught Silas in the leg, sending the traitor to the ground with a guttural roar of pain.
The side door of the black van started to slide shut. The shadow inside—the one who had orchestrated this from the safety of the tinted glass—realized the tide had turned. With a screech of tires that echoed through the entire basement, the van swung into reverse, narrowly missing an SUV as it roared toward the exit.
They weren't here to die for a failed kidnapping. They were predators; once the prey fought back, they retreated into the dark to lick their wounds and plan the next strike.
"Doctor! This way!" Finmba, the hotel guard, appeared beside me, shielding us with his own body.
I didn't look back at the carnage. I didn't look back at Silas clutching his bleeding leg or the medics already rushing toward Miller, who was gritting his teeth against the pain in his shoulder. I ran. We were ushered through a private service lift, bypassed the lobby entirely, and were moved into a high-security suite on a restricted floor—one with no windows facing the street and a double-lock system that felt more like a vault than a hotel room.
The rest of the night was a blur of ice-cold fear and mechanical movements. I didn't sleep. I sat by the door, watching Leo sleep while the St. Regis elite team stood watch outside our door.
As the first gray light of dawn touched the San Francisco skyline, I knew we couldn't stay. The hotel was compromised. My own hand-picked team was broken.
"Get the bags," I told Nanny B as the clock struck 6:00 AM.
"Where are we going, Doctor?" she asked, her voice still trembling as she folded Leo's small shirts.
I looked at the map on my phone, my eyes landing on a small, coastal town three hours north. It was a place Asher didn't know about. A place the black van wouldn't look.
"Somewhere we can finally stop being the prey," I whispered.
******