Chapter 12 - A Mother's Fury
The rain had turned to sleet by the time the Whitfield convoy reached the industrial wasteland along the Chicago River.
The old grain silos stood like rotting concrete giants against the pitch-black sky. Rusted catwalks hung precariously over the freezing black water below.
Four black SUVs screeched to a halt outside the perimeter fence.
Daniel jumped out, wearing a heavy tactical vest over his dress shirt, carrying an M4 carbine. Beside him, Naomi had shed her high heels and emerald train, tying the skirt up around her thighs so she could move, her bare feet slipped into a pair of spare combat boots from the trunk. She held a Glock Daniel had given her in the car.
“You know how to use that?” Daniel asked quietly as they moved along the rusted corrugated wall.
“Point, release the safety, pull,” Naomi said, her voice chillingly steady. “I won’t miss.”
Suddenly, a voice echoed from the shadows of the catwalk above.
“Drop the weapons, Daniel.”
Daniel stopped. Naomi pressed her back against his, scanning the darkness.
Standing on the catwalk thirty feet above, holding five-year-old Sophie by the collar of her pink jacket over the open river, was Tyler Vance’s brother, Marcus Vance—the commander of Victor’s sleeper cell.
“Mommy!” Sophie cried, her tiny legs kicking in the freezing air, her stuffed bunny tumbling into the churning black water below. “Mommy!”
“Sophie!” Naomi screamed, her heart tearing in two.
“Let her go, Vance!” Daniel roared, his rifle trained on the man's chest. “Victor is broken! Your PMC is finished! Walk away and you keep your life!”
“I don’t care about Victor’s money!” Vance shouted down, his face twisted in madness. “Tyler was my brother! You killed him in Detroit, and tonight, I take what belongs to you!”
Vance shifted his grip, preparing to hurl the little girl into the icy river.
*CRACK!*
A single rifle shot echoed from the rusted water tower two hundred yards away.
A bullet tore clean through Vance’s shoulder, spinning him around. He shrieked, losing his balance.
Sophie slipped from his grasp, plummeting toward the freezing water.
“SOPHIE!”
Daniel dropped his rifle, sprinted across the metal pier, and leaped into the air.
He dove off the edge of the pier, his long body cutting through the freezing sleet, his outstretched arms catching Sophie mid-fall just ten feet above the churning river.
Daniel hit the freezing water with a violent splash, taking the brunt of the impact against his broad back, holding Sophie securely above the surface.
On the pier above, Vance staggered to his feet, pulling a backup pistol with his good arm, aiming down into the water at Daniel and the child.
*BANG! BANG! BANG!*
Naomi stood at the edge of the pier, both hands locked around her Glock, firing three consecutive rounds into Vance’s chest with icy precision.
Vance gasped, dropped his gun, and tumbled over the railing, sinking into the dark river below, gone forever.
Naomi dropped the empty gun, threw herself onto her knees at the edge of the pier, and reached down into the freezing water. “DANIEL! SOPHIE!”
Daniel’s head broke the surface. He was shivering violently, coughing water, but his muscular arms were clamped around Sophie like an iron vice.
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“I have her!” Daniel shouted over the roar of the river. “I have our girl!”
***
