Chapter 9 - The Lion’s Den
The locomotive hangar was a cavern of rusted steel and freezing drafts.
Roman Vance stood over Noah, holding a Colt .45 loosely in his right hand. Four armed mercenaries flanked the perimeter.
"You shouldn't have been in that car that night, kid," Vance muttered, lighting a cigarette with his left hand, exposing the coiling black cobra tattoo stretching up his forearm. "Your daddy was supposed to be in the passenger seat."
Noah stared at the cobra. His little hands trembled, but he didn't cry.
Inside the small receiver concealed behind Noah’s ear—slipped into his collar during his captivity by Calvin—a soft, sweet voice crackled through the static.
*“Dasher,”* Hannah’s voice whispered in his ear. *“Dasher, can you hear me?”*
Noah’s chin jerked up slightly.
*“Remember our secret rule,”* Hannah whispered, her voice filled with fierce maternal love. *“When you raise your antlers, an elf will come. Daddy is here, sweetheart. On the count of three, duck under the chair. One... two...”*
Noah dropped his head and drove his shoulders down, pulling his legs into the frame of the heavy iron chair just as Gabriel crashed through the frosted glass skylight thirty feet above!
The glass rained down like shrapnel. Before the mercenaries could raise their rifles, Gabriel’s twin pistols barked in the darkness. Two men fell instantly. Tiny kicked through the rusted loading doors, his shotgun roaring with thunderous authority, neutralizing the remaining guards.
Vance spun around, snarling, raising his weapon toward Gabriel.
"MORETTI!" Vance roared.
"DON'T HURT MY DADDY!" Noah's voice exploded across the hangar—loud, clear, and ringing with absolute defiance.
The distraction was enough. Gabriel closed the distance in a heartbeat. He caught Vance's gun arm, snapping it backward over his knee. Vance screamed, dropping the weapon. Gabriel slammed him onto the concrete, pinning him beneath his boot.
"Fourteen months," Gabriel whispered, pressing the barrel of his gun directly between Vance's eyes. "Fourteen months of my son living in silence because of you."
"Gabriel, wait!"
Hannah burst through the hangar doors, running through the snow and broken glass. She didn't look at Vance. She ran straight to Noah, falling to her knees, slicing through the zip-ties with a pocketknife, and gathering the shaking little boy into her arms.
Noah wrapped his arms around her neck and buried his face in her red hair, sobbing openly. "Mama! You came! You came!"
Gabriel looked down at Vance, then looked across the hangar at Hannah holding Noah. The darkness that had consumed him for fourteen months suddenly melted away, replaced by the light of the family he had been gifted.
May you like
Gabriel lowered the weapon. He turned to Tiny. "Call the federal marshals. Let Vance rot in a federal cage for the rest of his miserable life."
***
