Chapter 4 - The Siege
"We need to move," Marcus said instantly, slamming his laptop shut. "If her security team traced the delivery of that bear to your apartment, they can trace your cell phone pinging off the towers near my loft."
He went to a steel safe in the wall and pulled out two handguns, sliding a spare magazine into his pocket. He handed one to me. It felt heavy and cold. "You know how to use this?"
"I'll figure it out," I said, my maternal instincts overriding my fear.
Just as Marcus reached for his car keys, the power in the loft abruptly cut out. The hum of the refrigerator died. The morning light filtering through the blinds was suddenly the only illumination in the room.
"Get down!" Marcus roared.
The front windows shattered inward in a shower of glass as heavy, suppressed gunfire chewed through the drywall. I tackled Lily to the floor, covering her ears with my hands, my body shielding hers. Dust and debris rained down on us.
Marcus returned fire, the explosive sound of his gun deafening in the enclosed space. "Back stairwell! Now, Sarah!" he yelled.
I scooped Lily up, staying low to the ground. We scrambled toward the heavy fire door at the back of the loft. Marcus was providing cover fire, keeping the tactical team pinned in the hallway.
I kicked the fire door open and plunged into the dark, concrete stairwell. We flew down three flights of stairs, the sound of gunfire echoing above us.
We burst out into the alleyway where Marcus had parked his nondescript SUV. A second later, Marcus sprinted out the door, his shoulder stained with blood.
"I'm hit, it's just a graze! Drive!" he shouted, tossing me the keys as he jumped into the passenger seat.
I threw Lily into the back, jumped behind the wheel, and gunned the engine. We tore out of the alley, side-swiping a black van that was trying to block us in. I didn't stop. I ran three red lights, my hands gripped so tightly on the steering wheel my knuckles were white.
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"Where do we go?" I panicked, looking at Marcus, who was wrapping his bleeding arm in a torn shirt. "We can't go to the police! Julian said she owns them!"
"We go off the grid," Marcus gritted his teeth. "I have a cabin in the Angeles National Forest. We stash Lily there. And then, Sarah, we have to go on the offensive. Because they will never stop hunting you."
