Chapter 5 - COLLATERAL DAMAGE
The unmistakable crunch of tires on gravel echoed through the open window. Nora peered through the blinds. Four black SUVs had just surrounded the dormitory. Men in tactical gear were pouring out, weapons raised.
“We’re boxed in,” Nora said, her pulse hammering against her ribs.
Julian’s face hardened, the brief vulnerability vanishing behind a mask of pure violence. “Stay behind me. I’ll clear a path to the treeline.”
“You have one gun and a bleeding arm, Julian! You can’t shoot your way through a dozen men.” Nora grabbed his arm, pulling him back from the hallway. She looked around the little girl’s room. Art supplies, a heavy radiator, a humidifier.
“I used to make chemical primers to clean rust off engine blocks,” Nora muttered, her brain working in overdrive. She grabbed a bottle of rubbing alcohol from a bathroom kit on the dresser, unscrewed the humidifier, and dumped the water out.
“What are you doing?” Julian asked, watching the door. Heavy footsteps were thudding up the stairs.
“Making a distraction. Give me your coat.”
Nora stuffed Julian’s heavy wool coat into the narrow hallway outside the room, doused it in alcohol, and threw a handful of Mia’s colored pencils and crayons into the folds. The wax and wood would burn hot and thick. She tossed a match.
Flames erupted instantly, filling the narrow corridor with a blinding, toxic wall of thick black smoke. The tactical team hit the top of the stairs, shouting in confusion as they choked on the fumes.
“Window!” Nora yelled.
Julian smashed the glass with the butt of his gun. It was a fifteen-foot drop into the bushes. He jumped first, landing in a roll despite his shoulder. Nora followed, the frozen branches tearing at her skin as she crashed into the dirt.
“Over here!” a voice shouted from the front of the building.
“Run!” Julian grabbed her hand, dragging her toward the dark treeline.
They sprinted blindly into the forest. The freezing rain masked their footsteps, but flashlights cut through the trees behind them like predatory eyes. Nora’s lungs burned. She wasn't built for this. She was a valet. She was supposed to be paying her rent tomorrow, not running from a ghost mafia boss.
Suddenly, the ground gave way.
Nora slipped on a muddy embankment, tumbling down a steep ravine. She hit the bottom hard, the breath knocked out of her. Julian slid down gracefully beside her, pressing a hand over her mouth to keep her quiet.
Above them, three men with flashlights paused on the edge of the ravine.
“Sweep the perimeter,” one of them barked. “Silas wants him alive, but the girl is expendable.”
Nora felt Julian stiffen. The girl. That meant Mia wasn't with them. She was somewhere else.
The men moved on. Julian exhaled, pulling Nora into a small, rocky hollow beneath the exposed roots of an old oak tree to wait out the patrol. The cold was agonizing. They were both soaked, shivering uncontrollably.
“I’m sorry,” Julian whispered in the dark, the billionaire arrogance entirely gone. “I dragged you into a war.”
Nora pulled her knees to her chest. “My brother knew what he was doing when he helped you. I didn't know why, until today.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out the keys. She unclipped the St. Christopher medal and held it out. “He gave me one just like this when I was ten. Said it protects travelers. We’re going to find her, Julian.”
Julian looked at the medal in her palm. He reached out, his warm, rough fingers brushing hers as he closed her hand around it. “Keep it. You need it more than I do.”
Before Nora could pull her hand away, a faint, rhythmic sound caught her attention. It wasn't rain. It was a soft, ragged breathing.
She turned her head, squinting into the deepest part of the root hollow. A pair of terrified, wide green eyes stared back at her.
Huddled in the dirt, clutching a dirty blanket, was a little girl in a nightgown.
“Mia?” Julian gasped.
The little girl didn't run to her father. She shrank back, her eyes locked on Nora’s hand. “You have Uncle Leo’s necklace,” the girl whispered, her voice trembling.
May you like
Nora’s heart shattered. She crawled forward, opening her palm to show the silver medal. “Yes, sweetheart. I’m Leo’s sister. And we’re going to get you out of here.”
But as Mia stepped into the dim light, Nora saw what was strapped to the little girl’s chest. A heavy vest, blinking with a steady red light.
