Chapter 4 - Blood in the Snow
Z
The extraction point was a rusted steel door at the end of the tunnel, disguised as a utility maintenance hatch beneath the L-train tracks. When Reed pushed it open, the howling Chicago wind slammed into us, a wall of blinding white snow that stole my breath. It was past sunset, and the city was an apocalyptic wasteland of buried cars and flickering streetlamps. The storm had paralyzed the metropolis, but the cold was the least of my worries.
A sleek, heavily armored black SUV idled violently in the alley, its exhaust pluming like dragon's breath in the freezing air. Tommy was leaning against the passenger side, blood streaming from a nasty gash above his left eye, staining his pristine white collar. He held an assault rifle, scanning the rooftops with manic intensity.
"Get them in the back, Boss!" Tommy shouted over the roar of the wind. "Volkov's cleaners hit the restaurant. It's a bloodbath. They burned it to the ground. We have maybe three minutes before their tactical sweep pushes this far south!"
Reed practically threw me into the cavernous backseat of the SUV. I scrambled over the leather seats, clutching Ava, who remained mercifully asleep against my chest, exhausted by the trauma of the escape. Reed slid into the driver's seat, the heavy door slamming shut and sealing us in a tomb-like silence. The vehicle was completely bulletproof, the glass thick and tinted, creating an illusion of safety that I knew was entirely false.
"Where are we going?" I demanded, my voice shaking uncontrollably as the adrenaline began to wear off, leaving me shivering and weak.
"A safe house in the North Woods," Reed replied, throwing the massive vehicle into gear. The SUV roared, tires chewing aggressively through the heavy snowbanks as we careened out of the alley. "It's off the grid. No digital footprint, no cell service. It's the only place the Volkovs can't find using their satellite sweeps."
I looked out the window as we sped through the desolate streets. The city I had known—the struggling neighborhoods, the crowded buses, the harsh but familiar reality of my life—was gone. I was trapped in a nightmare, held hostage by a man who wanted to use my baby as bait to murder my ex-boyfriend.
"You can't do this," I said, my voice gaining a sudden, desperate strength. "You can't use Ava. She's innocent. If Dante is the monster you say he is, he won't come for her. He left us! He doesn't care!"
Reed glanced at me in the rearview mirror, his eyes cold and calculating. "You don't understand the Volkovs. They are obsessed with legacy. Dante may have abandoned you, but he will not allow his only living heir to be raised by a rival family. He is arrogant, and he is possessive. When I broadcast the message that I have his daughter, his ego will force him to act. He will come."
"And if he doesn't?" I shot back, hugging Ava tighter. "What happens to us then, Reed? Do you just dispose of us when we lose our strategic value?"
Before Reed could answer, a violent, deafening explosion rocked the SUV. The entire vehicle lifted off the ground, thrown sideways by the kinetic force of a blast. My head slammed against the reinforced glass of the window, stars exploding in my vision. Ava shrieked in terror as the SUV skidded across the icy pavement, slamming into a parked snowplow with a bone-jarring crunch.
"Ambush!" Tommy roared from the front seat, kicking his door open. "They tracked the vehicle!"
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Gunfire erupted, the sound amplified by the narrow street. Bullets sparked violently against the armored chassis of the SUV. Reed spun around, grabbing a tactical vest from the floorboard. "Stay down!" he ordered me. "Do not open these doors no matter what you hear!"
He bailed out of the driver's side, disappearing into the blinding snow. I was left alone in the dark, shivering violently, curled around my screaming daughter as the muffled sounds of a vicious, bloody war waged just inches outside the reinforced glass. I squeezed my eyes shut, praying for a miracle I knew would never come.
