All Chapters of Blackout Protocol : Chapter 11
- Chapter 20
63 chapters
Chapter Ten
The FBI field office was a fortress of glass and steel in downtown Chicago, the kind of building designed to look welcoming while being nearly impossible to breach. Marcus parked the stolen Civic two blocks away, engine idling."This is a terrible idea," he said."You have a better one?" Sarah was already checking her weapon, making sure she had a full magazine."We could call. Leave a message. Anonymous tip.""Ellis isn't answering his phone. That means either he's in a meeting, or he's compromised, or….""Or he's already dead and we're about to walk into a trap." Marcus watched the building's entrance. Normal foot traffic. People in suits coming and going. No visible crisis. "If Devereaux sent someone to kill Ellis, they'd do it quietly. No alarms. No lockdown. Just one dead FBI agent and a story about a heart attack or accident.""Which is why we need to get in there. Now." Sarah opened her door.Marcus grabbed her arm. "Sarah. If we go in there, we're done. Federal building. Camer
Chapter Eleven
The interrogation room at FBI headquarters was different from the ones at CPD. Cleaner. Better lighting. But it still had that same oppressive weight that made everyone who sat in it feel guilty.Sarah sat alone, hands uncuffed but an agent posted outside. Not technically under arrest. Not technically free either.She'd been here for thirty minutes. No Ellis. No updates. Just her and the two-way mirror and the knowledge that Marcus was out there alone with six hours until Devereaux's final move.The door opened. Ellis entered carrying two cups of coffee and a tablet. He set one cup in front of Sarah and took the seat across from her."You're lucky I convinced them you're a cooperating witness and not a suspect," he said. "Chicago PD wants you in custody. The US Attorney wants to file charges. And Homeland Security is trying to figure out if this qualifies as domestic terrorism.""Does it?" Sarah wrapped her hands around the cup. "Because using cops as programmable assassins sounds ter
Chapter Twelve
The Lincoln Park safe house was a third-floor apartment above a Korean restaurant. Marcus could smell kimchi and grilled meat through the floorboards as he checked the windows for the third time in twenty minutes.Still clear. No suspicious vehicles. No unmarked vans. No cops staking out the building.He'd been here for two hours, and the waiting was killing him.His phone; the compromised one, sat on the kitchen counter like a live grenade. He'd powered it on once, just long enough to see the message from Devereaux. Six hours. Now it was closer to four.Four hours until the final activation.Four hours until eight cops became murderers and then corpses.Marcus paced the small apartment. Living room barely bigger than his cell had been. Kitchen with ancient appliances. Bathroom with a shower that probably hadn't been updated since the nineties. But it had a bed, running water, and…most importantly, no one knew he was here except Ellis.And Ellis wasn't answering his calls.Marcus had
Chapter Thirteen
The conference room on the FBI's fourth floor had been converted into a tactical planning center. Whiteboards covered with diagrams. Laptops showing surveillance feeds. Six agents, including Ellis, huddled around a table covered in maps of downtown Chicago.Sarah stood at the center of it all, feeling like prey volunteering for the slaughter."The concept is sound," Ellis was saying, pointing to a red circle on the map. "We put Chen in a visible, controlled location. Somewhere Devereaux would see as an easy target but we can monitor completely.""And we're certain Devereaux will take the bait?" Agent Torres, mid-thirties with sharp eyes, looked skeptical. "He's been careful so far. Why would he risk exposure going after Chen?""Because she's the biggest threat besides Kane," Ellis replied. "She has Foster's documents. She witnessed Moss's activation. If Devereaux is planning a terminal cascade, Chen is absolutely on his target list."Sarah studied the map. The red circle marked Grant
Chapter Fourteen
The tactical planning had taken another hour. By the time Sarah left the conference room, exhaustion was clawing at her. She'd been awake for thirty-six hours straight, running on coffee and adrenaline that was starting to wear thin.Ellis had assigned her quarters on the third floor; a small room with a cot, a sink, and a window that didn't open. Protective custody dressed up as hospitality. The door had a lock, but Sarah suspected it only worked from the outside.She sat on the cot and pulled out her phone. Still no word from Marcus. The silence was worse than bad news. At least bad news gave you something to react to. Silence just left you imagining worst-case scenarios.She opened her messages, scrolled through the recent texts. The unknown number that had threatened her. Ellis coordinating logistics. Tommy checked in hours ago to say he was okay but under investigation.Nothing from Marcus.Sarah typed a message to his compromised phone: ‘Are you alive?’She stared at it for a lo
Chapter Fifteen
The service entrance on Dearborn was a nondescript metal door wedged between a parking garage and a loading dock. Marcus stood across the street, hidden in shadows, watching for Tommy.His shoulder was on fire. The makeshift bandage had held, but every movement sent fresh waves of pain radiating through his arm.Twenty-eight minutes since the call. Two minutes until Tommy was supposed to arrive.A familiar sedan pulled up to the curb. Tommy's Crown Victoria. He stepped out, looking around nervously before pulling a duffel bag from the back seat.Marcus waited thirty seconds, making sure Tommy wasn't followed, then crossed the street."You're late," Tommy said without looking at him."Had to make sure you weren't tailed.""I'm not an amateur." Tommy handed over the duffel. "Everything you asked for. Fire alarm trigger, smoke grenades, and a security badge. After the first checkpoint, you're on your own."Marcus checked the contents. "Where'd you get a federal badge?""You don't want to
Chapter Sixteen
The medical bay on the second floor was cramped and smelled like antiseptic and burned coffee. Sarah sat on an examination table while a medic; a young woman named Chen, no relation, cleaned the bullet graze on her arm."You're lucky," Chen said, dabbing antiseptic on the wound. "Another inch to the left and this would've hit the brachial artery. You'd have bled out in minutes.""Doesn't feel lucky." Sarah winced as the antiseptic burned. Torres stood by the door, weapon drawn, eyes constantly scanning the hallway beyond."Going to need stitches. Five, maybe six." Chen threaded a needle. "This is going to hurt. I can give you local anesthetic….""No time. Just do it."Chen nodded and began stitching. Sarah gritted her teeth, focusing on the pain to keep her mind sharp. Each pull of the thread was a reminder that she was alive. That Morris had missed.That the next activated subject might not."Done." Chen tied off the last stitch and applied a bandage. "Keep it clean. Change the dress
Chapter Seventeen
Marcus made it out of the FBI building with two minutes to spare before lockdown. The smoke had cleared, alarms were winding down, and security was beginning systematic sweeps of each floor. He'd slipped out through the chaos, just another figure in the confusion, and emerged onto Dearborn Street breathing hard.Twenty-four minutes until final activation.He pulled out the burner phone and dialed Tommy as he walked, putting distance between himself and the federal building."Tell me you got out," Tommy answered immediately."I'm out. Did you?""Barely. They're questioning everyone who was in the building during the alarm. I gave a statement about responding to the fire threat, but Marcus, they're going to review footage. They're going to see me near the trigger point.""Then you need to disappear. At least until this is over.""I'm already gone. Grabbed my go-bag and hit the road. Heading to my sister's place in Wisconsin." Tommy paused. "Did you get what you needed from Vasquez?""Ma
Chapter Eighteen
The bunker smelled like concrete and recycled air. Sarah stood near the blast door, watching the four subjects who sat at a metal table in the center of the room. Ellis had positioned himself near the communications station, monitoring channels. Agent Torres paced the perimeter, weapon holstered but hand never far from it.Eleven minutes until final activation.Detective James Whitmore sat with his head in his hands, breathing slowly, deliberately. Trying to maintain control. Detective Lisa Park stared at nothing, her expression vacant but her hands trembling slightly. Officer Andre Williams; a muscular man in his late thirties, kept clenching and unclenching his fists. Sergeant Michael Torres (no relation to Agent Torres) rocked back and forth slightly, lips moving in what might have been prayer.They all knew what was coming."How are they holding up?" Sarah asked Ellis quietly."As well as can be expected. Medicals cleared them physically, but psychologically..." Ellis shook his he
Chapter Nineteen
The moment the Faraday cage powered down, Marcus felt it.A pressure in his skull. Like someone pressing fingertips against the inside of his forehead. Gentle at first. Almost tentative. Then harder. More insistent.‘Protocol standby. Awaiting activation sequence.’The voice wasn't external. It came from somewhere deep in his mind, calm and measured and wrong. Marcus's hands tightened on the jammer's controls, fighting the urge to drop it and simply obey whatever came next."Marcus?" Sarah's voice sounded distant. "Are you okay?"He wasn't. The pressure was building, turning into a low hum that vibrated through his entire nervous system. He could feel his body wanting to respond, muscles preparing to move without his conscious input."The jammer," he managed to say through gritted teeth. "Range dial. All the way right."Sarah was beside him in a second, her hands on the device. She found the dial and twisted it. The LED display shifted from yellow to green."It's at maximum," she said