Chapter 5 - The Deep Water
The armored SUV hit the freezing river with a catastrophic impact, violently throwing Adrian against the side window.
Water immediately began pouring into the sinking cabin through the bullet holes in the internal partition.
Claire screamed in pure terror, frantically clawing at the locked doors as the dark water rapidly rose to their knees.
Adrian knew the heavy armor plating of the vehicle meant they would sink straight to the bottom in a matter of seconds.
He grabbed the heavy metal seatbelt buckle and smashed it repeatedly against the weakened side window.
The glass groaned and cracked under the immense pressure of the rushing river outside.
With one final, desperate strike, the window shattered entirely, sending a massive, blinding torrent of freezing water into the back seat.
Adrian grabbed Claire around the waist, pulling her through the broken window just as the SUV was completely submerged.
They fought their way toward the surface, their lungs burning fiercely as the violent current threatened to drag them under.
Adrian finally broke the surface, gasping for air and dragging his coughing wife toward the muddy riverbank.
They collapsed onto the wet grass, completely exhausted, shivering uncontrollably, but miraculously alive.
Adrian knew they could not contact the police or return to Caldwell House, because Marcus controlled all their communications.
He hid Claire inside an abandoned fishing cabin near the shore, promising her he would return with their son.
Adrian walked three miles in the freezing rain until he reached a desolate truck stop.
He used a payphone to call the only man he still trusted in the criminal underworld, an elite hacker named Silas.
He promised Silas one million dollars if he could immediately trace the GPS coordinates of Marcus's secure communication device.
Silas agreed and worked his digital magic, calling back ten minutes later with a precise location.
The coordinates did not point to a random warehouse or a secondary orphanage.
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They pointed directly to a heavily fortified, highly secretive private island owned by Victor Sterling.
Victor Sterling was Adrian's biggest corporate rival, a billionaire who had been desperately seeking a cure for his own terminally ill son.
