Chapter 11 - The Water Tower Siege
David’s blood ran cold.
He hadn't accounted for the third SUV that had fled the initial ambush at the rail yard. The surviving mercenaries hadn't retreated out of town; they had tracked Eli’s movements back to the water tower using thermal night-vision goggles mounted on the vehicle's roof.
""Eli, call the state police dispatch using your old emergency override codes!"" David shouted as he sprinted out of the warehouse into the pouring rain. ""Tell them an active officer-involved conspiracy is underway at the rail terminal! Give them the encrypted files!""
David didn't wait for an answer. He threw himself into the driver's seat of one of Vance’s remaining SUVs, keyed the push-to-start ignition, and slammed the accelerator to the floorboards. The heavy tires spun against the wet gravel before catching traction, launching the vehicle toward the towering iron structure looming five hundred yards away against the black skyline.
Through the rain-streaked windshield, David could see two armed men climbing the external iron ladder of the massive municipal water tank, while a third stood at the base, holding an assault rifle aimed upward at the trapdoor.
Inside the enclosed crow’s nest atop the tower, Lily was huddled against the cold steel rivets, her small hands clutching David’s dog tags with all her strength. Above her, the heavy iron hatch rattled violently as an operative pounded on the deadbolt from the outside.
""Open the hatch, kid!"" the man shouted over the howling wind. ""Open it or we cut through with a torch!""
David accelerated, aiming the front bumper of the SUV directly at the mercenary guarding the ladder's base. The man saw the twin high beams cutting through the darkness too late. He turned, raising his weapon to fire, but David struck him at forty miles per hour, crushing him against the concrete foundation pillar of the tower.
David kicked his door open, rolling out of the moving vehicle as it slammed to a halt. He drew his sidearm, tracking the second operative who was halfway up the iron ladder. David fired three controlled rounds upward through the driving rain. The bullets struck the metal rungs and the climber's thigh, causing the mercenary to lose his grip and plunge sixty feet into the dark mud below with a sickening impact.
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Only the lead operative remained, perched precariously on the catwalk eighty feet above, leveling a cutting torch at the hatch lock.
David didn't use the ladder; it made him an easy target in the open. He grabbed the emergency counterweight cable of the old service lift, wrapping his combat gloves around the steel line, and engaged the emergency manual winch release. The counterweight dropped, catapulting David upward toward the catwalk with terrifying, breathless velocity.
