Chapter 27 - THE ESCAPE THROUGH SECTION G
Daniel brought his halogen lantern up, directing its five-thousand-lumen beam directly into the eyes of the advancing figures.
"POLICE! STAND DOWN!" Daniel bellowed, his voice echoing off the stone walls like a gunshot.
The blinding light caught two men dressed in dark, unbadged tactical jackets, instantly disorienting them. They raised their arms to shield their eyes, cursing loudly as their boots slipped on the damp floor.
Daniel didn't wait for them to recover. He fired a single warning shot high into the concrete arch above their heads.
BANG.
The deafening report inside the enclosed subterranean vault was catastrophic, the sound wave bouncing off the granite walls and shattering the dusty light fixtures overhead. Sparks showered down into the aisle as the private security contractors scrambled for cover behind the heavy steel shelving units.
"Go, María! Go!" Daniel yelled, backing toward the coal chute entry while keeping his lantern fixed on the corridor.
María reached the low iron archway, tossing the nylon duffel into the opening before hauling herself up onto the rusted iron rungs of the vertical ladder. The air inside the chute was cold and dry, smelling of ancient coal dust and dead leaves carried down from the alley above.
"I'm up!" María called down, her voice muffled by the narrow vertical shaft. "The chute hatch is secured with a top latch, but I can throw the bar!"
Daniel reached the archway, ducking under the low stone header just as two rounds from a suppressed firearm struck the brickwork beside his head with sharp, wet thuds (thwack-thwack).
He squeezed into the vertical shaft, grabbed the iron rungs, and climbed rapidly through the absolute blackness, guided only by the sound of María working the heavy iron latch above him.
"Hold on!" María grunted from above.
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With a heavy metallic groan, the rusting iron hatch at the top of the chute burst open, allowing blinding morning sunlight and fresh river air to flood down into the shaft.
Daniel scrambled out onto the gravel of the service alley behind the Records Building, rolling onto his side as María slammed the heavy iron hatch shut and kicked the iron locking bar firmly into place.
