Chapter 8 - The Forced Signature-8
The air inside the subterranean bunker was cold and smelled of damp concrete and old paper. Heavy fluorescent lights flickered overhead, casting long, eerie shadows down the hallway.
Spencer and his team moved silently down the corridor, their boots making no sound on the rubber floor matting.
As they approached the central vault room, the sound of raised voices echoed through the steel doors.
"Sign the documents, Jocelyn!" Julian’s sharp, impatient voice roared. "Sign them, and I’ll give you a million dollars and a one-way ticket to Europe! You can start a new life!"
"You killed my baby!" a woman’s weak, sob-racked voice cried out from inside. "You took my newborn son and threw him away! You monster! I will never sign anything for you!"
"Your baby is dead, Jocelyn!" Julian spat viciously. "He froze to death in a dumpster three hours ago! Nobody knows he existed! The clinic records have been wiped, the digital logs are destroyed, and Pamela Ortiz has been silenced! If you don't sign these surrender papers transferring your parental rights to my offshore trust, you will join your son at the bottom of the Sandy River!"
Outside the door, Spencer felt a wave of absolute, unadulterated fury boil in his chest. His knuckles turned white around the grip of his handgun.
He looked at Marcus and raised three fingers.
Three... two... one...
CRASH!
Marcus kicked the heavy steel lock. The vault door burst open with an explosive bang, slamming against the concrete wall.
"TAKE THEM DOWN!" Spencer shouted.
Before Julian’s two private guards could draw their weapons, Spencer’s tactical team breached the room, tackling both guards to the floor and disarming them in seconds.
Julian spun around, stumbling backward against a wooden desk, his expensive suit rumpled, his face twisting into sheer horror as he saw Spencer standing in the doorway, weapon raised.
"Spencer?!" Julian gasped, his voice squeaking. "How... how did you find this place?!"
Bound to a wooden chair in the center of the room sat Jocelyn Cooper. Her hair was tangled, her face bruised, her clothes torn from delivery and exhaustion. Her eyes were red from endless weeping, but as she looked at Spencer, a faint spark of shock lit up her face.
"Spencer..." Jocelyn whispered, her lips trembling. "He... he took our baby..."
Spencer kept his gun pointed dead center at Julian’s chest as he stepped into the room.
"Our baby is alive, Jocelyn," Spencer said, his voice dropping into a deep, reassuring warmth. "Charlee found him. He’s outside right now, safe, warm, and fed."
Jocelyn let out a choked gasp, burying her face in her hands as she burst into loud, hysterical tears of relief. "He's alive... oh God, my baby is alive!"
Julian backed up against the desk, his hands raised frantically. "Spencer, listen to me! This is a setup! Jocelyn and Pamela lured you into this! They wanted to steal the company from us!"
"Shut your mouth, Julian," Spencer said coldly, stepping closer until the barrel of his gun was inches from Julian's forehead. "You put my three-day-old son in a trash bag. You kidnapped a mother straight from her hospital bed. And you thought you were going to walk away with thirty billion dollars."
"You can't prove anything!" Julian shrieked, panic breaking through his suave demeanor. "It's my word against yours! The police won't touch me!"
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"They won't have to," Spencer smiled grimly. "Because everything you just said inside this room was broadcast live to the Portland Police Department and the District Attorney's office via my satellite feed."
Outside the bunker, the loud, wailing sounds of police sirens began echoing through the mountain trees.
