Chapter 4 - The Hunted Wife
The blaring red warning screen illuminated the sheer terror in Chloe's eyes as she frantically typed to block the signal.
"He uploaded your photo, your license plate, and your real-time cell phone location to a dark web syndicate board," she explained breathlessly.
I immediately reached into my pocket, pulled out my smartphone, and smashed it violently against the edge of the car door.
The screen shattered into a dozen pieces, but I knew the damage had already been done.
Every criminal with a weapon in Boston was now actively hunting me for a payout that could set them up for life.
"We have to move, right now," the driver growled, slamming the SUV into reverse and speeding out of the shipping container.
We barely made it onto the main highway before two unmarked black motorcycles began tailing us through the heavy traffic.
"They found us," Chloe shouted, rolling down her window and grabbing her rifle from the floorboards.
I ducked down in the back seat, covering my ears as deafening gunfire erupted between our vehicle and the pursuing mercenaries.
The driver swerved violently, clipping the side of a delivery truck to force one of the motorcycles off the slick road.
The second rider pulled up alongside my window, raising a sawed-off shotgun directly toward the glass.
Before he could pull the trigger, Chloe fired a precise burst that shattered his visor, sending his bike spiraling into a concrete barrier.
We sped away from the wreckage, but the piercing wail of police sirens quickly began to echo from every direction.
"Julian owns the police chief, which means those cops are coming to collect the bounty, not to save us," Chloe warned.
We needed a place to hide where Julian's influence couldn't reach, and I only knew of one location that fit the description.
"Take us to my sister's house in the mountains," I demanded, desperate for any safe haven.
Maya had always despised Julian, and her remote cabin was completely off the grid with no cellular service or internet access.
The driver nodded, taking a dangerous dirt utility road to bypass the police blockades forming on the highway.
It took three agonizing hours of driving through the thick forest before the familiar log cabin finally appeared through the trees.
The property was dead quiet, and the heavy iron gate surrounding the driveway was locked shut.
I climbed out of the battered SUV and manually opened the gate, waving for the driver to pull inside the hidden garage.
I ran up the wooden steps to the front porch, frantically pounding my fists against the heavy oak door.
Maya opened it a moment later, looking shocked and entirely confused by my bruised face and frantic demeanor.
"Sarah? What on earth is going on?" she asked, pulling me inside by my arm.
I collapsed into her living room chair, sobbing as I explained everything about Eleanor's death, the hidden vault, and the bounty.
Maya listened with wide eyes, rushing to the kitchen to pour me a glass of water to calm my nerves.
She handed me the glass with a comforting smile, gently brushing the wet hair out of my face.
"Don't worry, Sarah, you are perfectly safe here," she whispered softly.
May you like
I took a long drink of the water, but as I lowered the glass, my eyes locked onto a tailored black suit jacket resting on the hallway coat rack.
It was the exact same jacket Julian had been wearing outside the bank just three hours ago.
