Chapter 4 - The Nashville Hostage
I stared at the glowing screen while the freezing mountain wind whipped across my face.
My mother looked absolutely terrified as she wept into a gag tied tightly around her mouth.
Marcus leaned directly into the camera lens with a cold, aristocratic smile.
He told me I had exactly four hours to bring the geological surveys and the lockbox to Nashville.
If I missed the deadline, he promised to decorate Skylar's beautiful new penthouse with my mother's brains.
I showed the video to Hank, who cursed under his breath.
He said driving to Nashville from the Ozarks would take at least five hours.
We were already completely out of time before the countdown even started.
I refused to let my mother die because of my father's dangerous secrets.
I remembered my commanding officer at Fort Benning, a man who owed my family a massive favor.
I pulled out the black satellite phone from the lockbox and dialed a classified military number.
General Thomas answered on the second ring with a gruff, irritated tone.
I quickly identified myself and explained the hostage situation currently unfolding in Tennessee.
I told him I needed immediate aerial transport if I was going to save an innocent civilian from cartel operatives.
The General fell silent for a moment before asking for my exact coordinates.
I read him the GPS location from the satellite phone's digital display.
He told me to secure a landing zone in the clearing at the top of the mountain.
Hank and I immediately started climbing the treacherous, rocky incline in the absolute dark.
We could hear the cartel mercenaries shouting and crashing through the brush far below us.
We reached the summit just as the distinctive, heavy thumping of helicopter rotors echoed through the valley.
A sleek black Blackhawk helicopter descended from the clouds, kicking up a massive storm of dirt and pine needles.
The side door slid open, and a crew chief waved us frantically aboard.
Hank and I dove into the back of the chopper just as bullets began striking the rocky ledge behind us.
The pilot banked hard, lifting us violently into the night sky and away from the ambush.
I sat in the vibrating cabin, gripping the titanium lockbox tightly against my chest.
I looked at my watch and realized we would reach Nashville with twenty minutes to spare.
My phone chimed with another message from Skylar.
The text simply read that she was so sorry for everything, and that she had a secret way to get Mom out alive.
May you like
I opened the attached audio file, expecting to hear my sister's tearful apology.
Instead, I heard Skylar laughing and telling Marcus to shoot our mother the moment I walked through the door.
