Chapter 6 - THE WRONG AMBULANCE
Elena kicked the back doors.
Locked.
Rachel grabbed the oxygen tank.
“What do we do?”
The driver accelerated.
Elena called Nora.
No answer.
The black SUV pulled alongside them.
Its window lowered.
For one insane second, Elena thought someone was going to shoot.
Instead, Nora leaned out.
“Get down!”
Rachel dragged Elena to the floor.
The SUV slammed into the ambulance.
Metal screamed.
The driver swerved.
Again.
Nora hit them from the side.
The ambulance crashed through a construction barrier and skidded sideways.
Elena flew into a cabinet.
Glass shattered.
Rachel landed across her.
The world stopped.
Then Elena smelled gasoline.
“Rachel.”
No response.
“Rachel!”
Rachel groaned.
Outside, gunshots cracked.
Elena looked through the broken rear window.
Nora was crouched behind the SUV, firing toward the ambulance cab.
The driver shot back.
“Elena!” Nora yelled. “Get out!”
Elena kicked the damaged rear door.
It opened six inches.
She pushed harder.
Rachel crawled beside her.
Together they forced it open.
They hit the pavement and ran.
A bullet struck the door behind them.
Nora fired twice.
The driver fell.
Silence.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then Nora approached him with her weapon raised.
The man was still alive.
Barely.
She removed his wallet.
No driver’s license.
No hospital ID.
Just a burner phone.
At the station, technicians unlocked it.
There were only three messages.
The first:
PICKUP CONFIRMED.
The second:
NO HOSPITAL.
The third:
FINISH BOTH SISTERS.
Elena stared at the screen.
“Daniel?”
Nora shook her head.
“Number is unregistered.”
Rachel looked at the dead man’s photo from booking.
“Who is he?”
“Name’s Victor Raines.”
Nora sat across from them.
“Former deputy.”
Elena went still.
“Former?”
“He worked here.”
Rachel cursed under her breath.
“Claire was right.”
Nora nodded.
“There’s more.”
She turned the phone around.
A fourth message had arrived after Victor was shot.
YOU MISSED AGAIN.
Nora traced the sender.
It led to another burner.
But the towers showed something useful.
The message had been sent from within three blocks of the hospital.
At exactly 1:43 a.m.
Elena frowned.
“Daniel wasn’t at the hospital.”
Nora looked at her.
“How do you know?”
“He texted me at midnight. Said he was home.”
“Then either he lied…”
“Or someone else is doing this.”
Nora’s phone rang.
She answered.
Listened.
Her face changed.
“What?”
Elena stood.
Nora ended the call.
“They found Claire.”
“Alive?”
Nora didn’t answer immediately.
“Technically.”
Elena’s stomach dropped.
“What does that mean?”
“She was found inside a storage unit.”
Rachel covered her mouth.
Nora grabbed her jacket.
“She’s unconscious.”
Elena stepped forward.
“Can she talk?”
“Not yet.”
“Was she alone?”
Nora opened the door.
“No.”
Elena waited.
Nora looked back.
“There was a second chair in the room.”
Blood was pooled beneath it.
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And carved into the wooden armrest were two words:
ELENA NEXT.
