Chapter 7 - The Poisoned Alliance
Norah woke up to the rhythmic hum of tires on a wet highway.
Her body felt like lead, but her mind was completely sharp and racing with adrenaline.
She kept her eyes closed, listening to Elias talking quietly on his cell phone.
He was arranging a meeting location with Matteo's most violent executioner.
Norah knew she had less than twenty minutes before she was handed over to a torture squad.
She suddenly let out a blood-curdling scream and grabbed her swollen stomach.
She thrashed violently against the seatbelt, pretending to go into severe premature labor.
Elias panicked, dropping his cell phone onto the floorboards.
"Breathe, Norah, just breathe," the old man shouted, swerving the car onto the muddy shoulder of the highway.
He threw the car into park and leaned over the center console to check on her.
Norah instantly dropped the act.
She reached into his open jacket and pulled his loaded revolver from the leather holster.
She jammed the barrel directly under Elias's chin.
"Get out of the car, or you die right here," Norah ordered with absolute conviction.
Elias raised his hands in surrender and slowly backed out of the vehicle into the freezing rain.
Norah climbed over into the driver seat and slammed her foot on the gas pedal.
She left the traitor standing in the mud and sped north toward the Canadian border.
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Ten miles down the road, a real, agonizing contraction ripped through her abdomen.
Norah gasped for air, realizing the extreme stress had finally triggered early labor.
