Chapter 12 - Race Against the Bell
The speedometer on the SUV hit eighty miles per hour as Hannah tore down the mountain switchbacks, gravel spraying from her tires on every sharp turn.
Agent Miller’s sedan was right behind her, his emergency dash-light flashing a frantic blue-and-red strobe through his windshield.
Lily.
The name echoed in Hannah’s mind with the force of a physical blow. She had enrolled Lily in a quiet, unassuming community school in Boone thinking it would offer a fresh start, a safe haven far away from the corruption of Chesapeake. She had underestimated the reach of a desperate criminal network willing to use a four-year-old as leverage.
Her phone buzzed violently on the dashboard. An unknown caller ID.
She punched the speaker button with one hand while gripping the steering wheel with the other.
“Major Nolan,” a synthesized, distorted voice hissed through the speaker. “I trust you enjoyed your mountain retreat. If you want to see your daughter finish kindergarten, turn your vehicle around right now and drive to the old water tower off Route 421. Come alone. No federal agents. No weapons.”
“If you touch a single hair on my daughter’s head, I will hunt you down to the ends of the earth,” Hannah snarled, every drop of maternal fury boiling over into lethal focus.
“You have fifteen minutes, Major. Tick-tock.”
Click.
Hannah slammed her foot harder onto the accelerator, the engine roaring in protest as the SUV rocketed past the town limits sign of Boone.
She tapped her secure Bluetooth link to Agent Miller driving behind her.
“Miller, they just contacted me,” Hannah barked over the comms. “They’re trying to divert me to the Route 421 water tower. It’s a feint. The school is the real target.”
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“Copy that, Major!” Miller’s voice crackled back through the static. “I’m diverting my tactical unit to the Boone elementary school right now. You go to the water tower and draw their primary operative out. We’ll secure Lily!”
“Negative,” Hannah said coldly. “We do both.”
