Chapter 4 - Ghost from the Yard
The darkness inside the brig deepened as midnight passed. Marcus waited until the rotation guards swapped shifts at exactly 0200 hours. The rhythmic clinking of keys and dull banter outside the door signaled the two-minute gap between security sweep patrols.
Bending his arms behind him with agonizing flexibility, Marcus worked his heel against the edge of the metal cot, catching the rubber lip of his boot against the steel frame. With a sharp wrench, the sole pulled free just enough to expose the hidden ceramic edge.
Ten seconds of friction sliced through the heavy-duty plastic cuffs. Blood rushed back into his hands, numb and burning with pins and needles. He rolled his shoulders, standing in complete silence.
The cell’s ventilation shaft was secured by four hex-bolts painted over with industrial enamel. Marcus drove the tip of the ceramic blade into the bolt corners, torquing them loose using the leverage of the steel bunk's unbolted foot-rail. When the vent swung open, he pulled himself into the narrow crawlspace, leaving his white dress uniform folded neatly on the floor.
Crawling through five hundred yards of grease-slick conduit, Marcus emerged near the dry-dock maintenance basin. Rain battered the concrete runways, whipping cold ocean air across his bare torso. He ducked beneath the shadows of a container crane, moving unseen past the shipyard patrol jeeps.
In the motor pool lot, he spotted an unmonitored logistics utility truck. Smashing the rear window with a wrapped elbow, he slipped inside, hotwired the auxiliary starter, and threw the engine into gear. He smashed through the unguarded perimeter gate, siren alarms erupting across the base behind him.
Marcus drove through the dark coastal storm, his phone completely dead. He needed a burner line, an untraceable weapon, and information on who had extracted Ava from the hotel.
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He remembered a name: Sarah Lin, a former naval intelligence operative who ran an encrypted investigative firm in downtown Richmond. Two hours later, soaked in grease and rainwater, he kicked open the rear emergency door of Lin’s loft.
He didn't find Lin waiting with a gun. He found Lin tied to a steel support pillar, bleeding from her ears, while three men in black tactical gear turned around, their suppressors raised directly at his forehead.
