Anna asked, stopping.
“Cole blew the entrance,” Arthur said without looking back, though his voice was tight. “He collapsed the tunnel to buy us time. Keep running.”
They ran until their lungs burned. The tunnel seemed endless, filled with squealing rats and dripping rusty pipes. Finally, they saw a sliver of gray light ahead, a metal grate covered in vines. Arthur hammered at the grate with the butt of his pistol until it gave way.
They scrambled out into the open air, sliding down a bank of wet grass to the river’s edge. The night was dark and moonless.
“There,” Silas pointed, breathing heavily, toward a half-rotted wooden shed. “I’ve got my old truck stashed in there.”
They ran for the vehicle. It was a rusted-out pickup from thirty years ago, but the engine turned over with a deafening roar when Silas turned the key.
“Get in!” the old man yelled.
Arthur pushed Anna into the passenger seat and jumped into the truck bed just as two black SUVs appeared over the hill, crashing through the underbrush.
“Go!” Arthur shouted, banging on the roof of the cab.
Silas slammed on the gas, and the truck fishtailed in the mud before lurching onto a dirt track. Bullets slammed into the tailgate, sending sparks flying. A frantic chase through the forest began. The black SUVs were faster, more modern, and their LED headlights blinded Silas in the mirrors.
“They’re gaining on us!” Anna cried, looking back.
From the truck bed, Arthur fired with cold precision at the tires of their pursuers. One of the black SUVs lost control, slammed into a pine tree, and flipped over in a ball of fire. But the second vehicle was still there, closing in dangerously.
“Silas, take a left!” Arthur ordered. “Toward the old bridge!”
“The bridge is out!” Silas yelled.
“Do it!”
Silas wrenched the wheel. The truck tilted onto two wheels and skidded onto a gravel path. The old bridge appeared ahead—a wooden structure spanning a deep ravine. A section of planks was missing in the middle.
“Hold on!” Silas yelled, closing his eyes.
The truck accelerated. Anna screamed. The vehicle jumped the gap in the bridge, landing on the other side with a brutal crash that broke the suspension. But they made it. The pursuing SUV, too heavy and fast to stop, tried to follow, but the rotten planks of the bridge couldn’t take its weight. The SUV plunged into the void, disappearing into the darkness of the ravine. Seconds later, they heard the impact against the rocks below.
Silas brought the smoking truck to a stop a mile down the road. The silence of the night settled over them again, broken only by the sound of the dying engine. Arthur climbed down from the truck bed, covered in mud and gunpowder, but unharmed. He opened the passenger door and pulled Anna out, holding her in a tight embrace.
“Are you okay?” he asked, checking her for injuries.
“Yes,” Anna said, shaking uncontrollably. “Dad, who were they? Why do they hate us so much?”
Arthur looked back toward the destroyed bridge with a grim expression.
“They don’t hate us, Anna. They’re just following orders. Those were mercenaries, professionals.”
“Who has the money to hire mercenaries?” Silas asked, getting out of the truck and leaning against the hood.
Arthur reached for his phone. It was broken. He threw it to the ground in frustration.
“Someone in my circle,” Arthur said. “Someone who knew we were at the warehouse. Only three people knew where we were headed. Cole, you, and my lawyer, Sterling.”
“Cole?” Anna asked. “He sacrificed himself for us.”
“Then that leaves Sterling,” Arthur said, his eyes glittering with cold fury. “Or someone higher up. Someone who benefited from your mother’s death 23 years ago.”
“What do we do now?”
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