Chapter 2 - IN THE CROSSHAIRS

The downwash of the helicopter battered the SUV, shaking the heavy armored frame.

“Drive into the trees!” Luca yelled over the deafening roar.

I shifted into drive and plunged the SUV off the coastal road, crashing through heavy brush and pine saplings until the thick canopy of the forest blocked us from the sky. The helicopter hovered for a terrifying minute, its searchlight sweeping the ground mere yards from our windshield, before banking sharply and flying eastward.

I slumped against the steering wheel, gasping for air.

Luca grabbed the GPS tracker from the rabbit, rolled down the window, and crushed it under the heel of his boot on the asphalt before ducking back inside.

“We have a few hours, at best,” Luca said, his breathing shallow. He ripped open his shirt to inspect the bullet graze on his ribs. “He knows we’re heading for the server.”

I turned around to check on Grace. She was curled into a tight ball, her thumb in her mouth—a habit she hadn’t shown since she was a toddler. My heart shattered. I reached back and stroked her hair. “I’m sorry, baby. Mommy’s got you.”

I turned back to Luca. “What server? You keep talking to me like I know things. I don’t know anything! I don’t know how to code, I don’t know where we are going, and I don't know who I really am!”

“You are Elena Cross,” Luca said, his dark eyes locking onto mine. “You were the most brilliant forensic accountant on the East Coast. You tracked dirty money better than the FBI. Daniel used you to build his empire, and when you realized the truth, you decided to burn it down.”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the microchip from my locket. “Daniel thinks this is the decryption key. He thinks if he forces you to plug this into the main server, he gets total control.”

“Isn’t it?”

“No.” Luca’s mouth curved into a grim line. “You told me before your memory was wiped. This chip doesn't grant access. It’s a self-destruct protocol. If we plug this into the server, it instantly transmits the entire criminal archive to every law enforcement agency on the planet. The families die overnight.”

I stared at the tiny silver chip. “Then where is the server?”

“You hid it. You wiped your own memory intentionally so Daniel could never torture the location out of you.”

“Then how are we supposed to find it?” I cried.

Luca reached into the glove compartment and pulled out an old, silver music box. I recognized it instantly. It used to sit on my dresser when Grace was a baby.

“You told me that when the time was right, this would wake you up.”

He opened the lid. A tinkling, melancholic lullaby filled the quiet car.

I stared at the rotating ballerina. At first, nothing happened. Just the hollow sound of gears and chimes.

Then, a sudden, blinding pain pierced my skull.

I squeezed my eyes shut, crying out as flashes of light exploded in my mind.

I saw a room filled with server racks.

I saw Daniel hitting me, demanding a password.

I saw myself typing lines of code, weeping as blood dripped onto the keyboard.

“Elena!” Luca grabbed my shoulders. “What do you see?”

The pain receded, leaving me breathless and soaked in sweat. I opened my eyes. The world looked different. Sharper. I remembered the code. I remembered the money. I remembered everything.

“The abandoned subway terminal under Broad Street,” I whispered, my voice trembling with the weight of my reclaimed past. “That’s where I built it.”

Luca nodded, a fierce spark in his eyes. “Then we end this tonight.”

“Wait,” Grace said.

We both turned to her. She was pointing out the window at the glow of the city skyline miles away. But she wasn't looking at the city. She was looking at the digital billboard on the highway overpass just ahead of us.

The billboard normally showed car advertisements.

Now, it showed my face.

Bold red letters flashed across the screen: WANTED FOR KIDNAPPING. ELENA CROSS. $5 MILLION REWARD. DO NOT APPROACH. ARMED AND DANGEROUS.