Chapter 4 - The Rescue
"Rosa!" Elena shrieked.
The elderly woman tried to scramble out, but Daniel, who was now safely outside the platform's reach, grabbed her by the leg.
"You're not going anywhere."
Rosa looked up as the massive car began to drop.
Elena could have run. She could have made it to the exit, saved her unborn baby, and waited for the police. But looking at Rosa trapped under the metal beast, she remembered that this woman had just risked everything for her.
She scrambled back and grabbed Rosa’s hand.
"I am not leaving you!"
"Go!" Rosa screamed. "Save your baby!"
"My child will not grow up knowing I abandoned the woman who saved her life!"
The car dropped with a sudden, final lurch.
Elena pulled with all her might, but Daniel held fast. In that split second, Rosa pressed a small, concealed button on her apron.
The garage's side door burst open, and a security SUV roared inside at full speed. Two private security guards leaped out. One tackled Daniel, forcing him to let go of Rosa, while the other slammed his weight onto the lift's manual emergency brake lever.
The car screeched to a halt, stopping mere inches above the two women.
For a few seconds, the garage was dead silent.
Slowly, Elena and the guards pulled Rosa out. The old woman was bleeding and bruised, but alive.
Victoria tried to slip away toward the exit with the bag of documents. But as she reached the door, several police cruisers blocked her path, sirens blaring.
"How did they know we were here?" Daniel stammered, handcuffed on the floor.
Rosa pointed to a tiny, blinking lapel mic pinned to her uniform.
"Ever since I found Mrs. Elena, everything has been livestreamed directly to the precinct."
Victoria glared at her son in pure fury.
"Do something!"
Desperate, Daniel grabbed the fallen knife from the floor, lunged at Elena, and grabbed her from behind.
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"Let me go or I’ll cut her!"
But Elena drove her heel straight into her husband's knee. Daniel buckled in pain, losing his grip, and the officers quickly tackled him to the ground. Victoria was arrested alongside him as she tried to tear up the incriminating documents.
