Chapter 4 - The Escape Route
The reality of the second text message hung heavily in the freezing room.
A cleanup crew meant men with guns were on their way to silence us permanently.
"We have to leave this house right this second," I told Maya.
She shoved the burner phone into her pocket and grabbed the diaper bag.
"My car keys are downstairs, but they probably blocked the driveway," she said.
I thought about the sprawling farmland behind our historic property.
"Your grandfather's old hunting truck is still parked in the rusted barn," I reminded her.
"The keys have been hidden inside the sun visor for thirty years."
Maya's eyes widened with a glimmer of hope.
We carefully climbed out the nursery window onto the sloping porch roof.
The autumn wind bit through my thin sweater, but adrenaline kept me warm.
I held Lily tightly against my chest, shielding her from the biting cold.
Maya guided my feet as we slowly descended the wooden trellis.
My eighty-one-year-old joints ached with every step, but failure was not an option.
We hit the damp grass just as headlights swept across the front of the house.
Three dark SUVs pulled silently into the driveway.
Men in tactical gear began pouring out of the vehicles.
Maya grabbed my hand, and we sprinted toward the treeline.
The darkness of the woods swallowed us just as the men breached the front door.
We ran blindly through the brush until the outline of the old barn appeared.
Maya threw open the creaky wooden doors.
The vintage Ford truck was covered in a thick layer of dust.
Maya opened the driver's side door and reached up to the visor.
A soft jingle confirmed the keys were exactly where my late husband left them.
I climbed into the passenger seat and cradled the baby.
Maya turned the ignition, praying the old engine would start.
The truck coughed, sputtered, and finally roared to life.
"Thank God," Maya breathed, shifting the rusty gear lever into drive.
We burst through the back doors of the barn and onto the dirt road.
I looked in the side mirror and let out a sigh of relief.
But my relief instantly turned to pure terror.
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The bed of the truck shifted heavily in the back.
A massive man in a black mask stood up in the truck bed and smashed the rear window with a crowbar.
