Chapter 4 - Shadows in the Parking Garage
Before Dominic could formulate an answer, the heavy steel door of Supply Room B burst open.
A panting resident stood in the doorway, his face pale under the fluorescent lights. “Charge Nurse Reyes—emergency override! We’ve got a multi-car pileup coming in from the expressway. The dispatch says a transport truck lost control near the harbor tunnel. The ER is getting overwhelmed.”
Elena’s professional instincts kicked in instantly. The intimacy of the supply room evaporated in a single second. She dropped her hand from Dominic’s chest, though her fingers lingered on his lapel for a fraction of a second longer than necessary.
“How many critical?” she asked sharply, turning back into a commander.
“Four. Two pediatric, two adults. One of the adults is unresponsive with severe internal bleeding,” the resident blurted out.
“Get trauma room one prepped for massive transfusion protocol. Call Dr. Sterling down from surgery immediately,” Elena ordered, already moving past the resident into the hallway.
She paused at the doorway, looking back over her shoulder at Dominic, who stood tall in the center of the cramped room like an immovable statue.
“Don’t leave,” she said, her voice carrying an unmistakable command of its own.
“I don’t plan on it,” Dominic replied.
She gave him a sharp, approving nod and vanished back into the chaos of the emergency room.
Dominic walked out of the supply room, his stride deliberate and unhurried. He pulled out his encrypted satellite phone and dialed a direct extension.
“Victor.”
“Boss,” Victor’s voice came through the speaker instantly, crisp and background-free, indicating he had already dropped the girls off and returned to monitor the perimeter. “Girls are safe. Apartments secure. Maria is upstairs making them hot chocolate. What’s your position?”
“I’m staying at the hospital,” Dominic said, walking down the sterile corridor toward the main glass lobby overlooking the ambulance bay. “A secondary transport crash just hit the harbor tunnel. The ER is at maximum capacity.”
“Copy that. Do you want me to bring a detail inside?”
“No,” Dominic said, his eyes scanning the dark, rain-slicked parking garage across the street through the reinforced glass windows. “Keep two men on the perimeter exits. But check the security feeds for the parking deck. Something feels off.”
“What kind of off?” Victor asked, the sound of keyboard clicking instantly transmitting through the line as his security chief pulled up the hospital’s closed-circuit camera grid.
“Instinct,” Dominic said coldly. “The transport truck losing control near the harbor tunnel during a standard winter freeze... it’s too convenient. The syndicates from the waterfront have been quiet for three months. Too quiet.”
“Checking camera four... camera seven... deck B,” Victor muttered. A pause hung over the line for three agonizing seconds. Then Victor’s voice hardened into absolute steel. “Boss, you’ve got movement on level three of the parking deck. Three individuals, heavy winter coats, tactical gear hidden underneath. They’re positioning themselves directly above the ambulance bay access ramp.”
Dominic’s slate-gray eyes narrowed into lethal slits.
“They aren't here for the hospital equipment, Victor,” Dominic said softly, a dark, dangerous calm settling over his features. “They’re here to finish what they started on the waterfront.”
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“Shall I send the cleanup crew?” Victor asked.
“No,” Dominic replied, adjusting his cuffs as he stepped through the automatic sliding doors into the freezing night air of the ambulance bay. “Let’s see what they want with my hospital.”
