Chapter 6 - The Hospital Visit
The local hospital was quiet, the corridors smelling of bleach and stale coffee.
I slipped past the nurses' station, wearing a baseball cap pulled low over my eyes.
Room 412 had a single police officer sitting outside, scrolling mindlessly on his phone.
I caused a distraction by knocking over a heavy cart of medical supplies down the adjacent hallway.
When the officer jogged over to investigate the crash, I slipped into David Thorne's room.
David was hooked up to several monitors, his face bruised in a sickening array of purple and yellow.
His eyes fluttered open as I approached the bed.
"You," he croaked, recognizing me from the closet.
"I have the drive," I whispered urgently, pulling the USB from my pocket to show him.
His eyes widened in a mix of relief and sheer terror.
"You have to take it to Agent Vance at the local FBI field office, no one else," David wheezed, struggling to breathe.
"The cartel has moles in the local police department," he added, confirming my worst fears.
"If they catch you with that, they will kill you without hesitation."
I nodded, gripping the small piece of plastic like it was a live grenade.
Suddenly, the door handle began to jiggle.
May you like
Someone was trying to get in, and it wasn't a nurse.
I dove under David's hospital bed just as the door swung open.
