It was too easy, way too easy.
By now even Mike felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end as they marched down the darkened corridor to what he assumed was the front entrance.
Behind him, Gifford's breaths were coming in sharps gasps, the unbearable tension and angst getting the better of the reporter whose only experience of these adventures consisted of writing them up for her weekly column.
Somewhere in the back, Steve was keeping an eye out for unwelcome company, bearing nothing but a scalpel as a weapon, while Mike covered the front.
It wasn't ideal, any of it, but desperate situations warranted unorthodox approaches.
Fact of the matter was, if their gut feeling was right and Chong had somehow instigated this smokescreen for some bizarre reason they had yet to find out; following standard operating procedure would make their next moves predicable and could quite possibly get them killed.
There was a double door ahead, a metal bar lodged in place to prevent access from the outside.
Slowing down, Mike took a moment to inspect both doors, ensuring that they hadn't been tampered with, unable to see anything out of the ordinary in the dim light coming from the compromised hallway lights up above.
"Everything ok?"
Steve's voice was a lot closer now, the young Inspector standing behind his right shoulder, continuing his role of guarding the back, while he evaluated any threats ahead.
"I don't know…", Mike answered truthfully, then took another step toward the door, cocking his head and trying to hear anything his eyes could have missed.
"You think it's rigged?"
"It could be."
Gifford appeared to his left, her terrified eyes going back and forth between the door and the two detectives.
"Do we need to turn around and look for an alternate route?"
"No…Chong might be counting on that…", Mike answered hurriedly, then gave the door another glance before reaching for the metal bar, his hand stopped halfway there when Steve firmly grasped his wrist.
"Why don't you let me do it? If there's something wrong with it, you go and get help."
"You really do want me to carry you out of here, don't you?", Mike fired back, his impatience mixed with worry.
"It's not like I can carry you out of here…", Steve returned halfheartedly, the faint smile playing on his lips warming Mike's heart in the uncertain situation.
"You're not gonna win that argument, Smarty…", Mike finally said and waited for his partner to retrieve his hand, before reaching for the metal bar.
It wasn't until all his fingers were fully wrapped around it that he felt the strong electric jolt shock his body.