Chapter 2 - THE ICE AND THE ASH

"Mia!"

The sound of her daughter’s terrified voice shattered Sophie’s soul. She lunged forward, entirely forgetting the men with guns, but Alessio’s massive arm wrapped around her waist, slamming her back behind the heavy steel bumper of the SUV.

A hail of bullets tore through the space she had just occupied, sparking violently off the wet gravel.

"Let me go!" Sophie fought him, tears mixing with the freezing rain. "She’s in there! Beatrice is going to blow it up!"

"If you run out there, you die, and then Mia has no one," Alessio growled, pinning her down with his body weight. His eyes were wild, calculating the tactical nightmare in front of them. "Listen to me. The detonator Beatrice is holding is a short-range radio frequency trigger. She has to be within fifty yards to blow that train car."

Answer: Mia is in the train car. Open: How do they disarm the bomb before Beatrice pushes the button?

"What do we do?" Sophie sobbed, gripping his shirt.

Alessio pulled a sleek, silver pocket watch from his vest. It wasn't ticking. The face was digital, glowing with a soft red light.

Reversal: It wasn't a watch. It was a signal jammer.

"My brother Julian built this for me before we stopped speaking," Alessio murmured, his thumb resting on the activation dial. "It emits a localized EMP pulse. It will fry the detonator in Beatrice’s hand. But its range is only thirty feet."

"She’s fifty feet away," Sophie calculated, looking at the distance between the SUV and the tin overhang.

"Which means I have to close the gap," Alessio said, his jaw locked in grim determination. "When I move, Beatrice will order her men to fire. I will draw their attention. You run to the back of the train car. The doors are rusted; you can pop the hinges with a tire iron from the trunk. Get Mia out."

"Alessio, you’ll be killed," Sophie breathed, looking at the man who had been a complete stranger four hours ago, now risking his life for her family.

Alessio looked down at her, his thumb brushing a streak of soot and rain from her cheek. "I’ve lived in the dark my whole life, Sophie. Let me do one good thing in the light."

Before she could stop him, Alessio turned the dial on the watch and broke cover.

He didn't run away. He charged directly toward the line of fire.

"Kill him!" Beatrice shrieked.

The railyard erupted into deafening chaos. Alessio moved with terrifying speed, firing his shotgun from the hip, dropping two more guards. Bullets tore through the air around him, one grazing his shoulder, tearing through his expensive coat, but he didn't even flinch.

Sophie didn't hesitate. While all eyes were on the suicidal charge of the syndicate boss, she grabbed the heavy iron tire iron from the open trunk and sprinted through the shadows toward the rear of the rusted train car.

Her lungs burned. The rain blinded her. But the sound of Mia crying inside fueled a superhuman strength in her muscles.

She reached the back door. It was padlocked, the hinges thick with decades of rust.

"Mia! Mommy’s here! Stand back from the door!" Sophie screamed, raising the heavy iron bar.

She swung with everything she had, smashing the iron into the rusted hinge. Once. Twice. The metal groaned, screeching in protest. On the third strike, the hinge snapped completely.

Inside the yard, Alessio had closed the gap to forty feet. Thirty-five.

Beatrice saw his suicide run and realized what he was doing. Her eyes went wide with panic. She raised the detonator and slammed her thumb down on the red button.

Click.

Nothing happened.

Alessio crossed the thirty-foot threshold. The EMP pulse silently washed over the yard. The detonator sparked, frying instantly in Beatrice’s hand.

"No!" Beatrice screamed, throwing the useless plastic to the ground. She raised her silver revolver, aiming it squarely at Alessio’s chest.

At the exact same moment, the train car door gave way. Sophie fell inside the dark, musty interior, her arms immediately wrapping around the small, trembling body of her daughter.

"Mommy!" Mia sobbed, burying her face in Sophie’s neck.

"I’ve got you, baby," Sophie cried, holding her so tightly she feared she might break her. "I’ve got you."

Outside, a single gunshot rang out, echoing cleanly over the sound of the rain.

Sophie froze, her blood turning to ice.

Through the cracked door of the train car, she watched in horror as Alessio stumbled backward, his hand flying to his chest. He dropped to his knees on the wet gravel, the shotgun falling from his grasp.

Beatrice stood over him, smoke curling from the barrel of her revolver.

"Game over, Alessio," Beatrice sneered.

But suddenly, the shadows behind Beatrice moved. A figure stepped out of the darkness, raising a heavy steel pipe, and swung it with brutal force into the back of Beatrice’s knees.

Beatrice shrieked, collapsing to the ground.