Chapter 6 - The Pawn Shop
The heavy footsteps echoing on the concrete floor belonged to heavy combat boots, not expensive leather shoes.
I peeked carefully around the edge of the rusted boiler, my grip tightening aggressively on my wooden cane.
Two men holding powerful tactical flashlights were slowly sweeping the dark basement maze.
They were local gang members, entirely unaffiliated with Adrian or his corrupt brother.
This abandoned factory was clearly their territory, and we had just trespassed into a highly dangerous criminal hideout.
I grabbed Lucy's arm and pulled her silently toward the old coal chute located on the far wall.
It was a narrow, steep metal slide that led directly up to the street level, designed for delivering fuel decades ago.
"You have to climb up first," I whispered to Lucy, practically pushing her toward the filthy metal chute.
Lucy scrambled frantically up the slide, her knees slipping on the thick black coal dust, holding the baby tightly.
I followed right behind her, my old bones screaming in absolute agony as I pulled myself up the steep incline.
Just as my feet cleared the bottom of the chute, a bright beam of light hit the metal slide.
"Hey, there is someone in the chute," a gruff voice shouted from the darkness below us.
I did not look back, violently pushing the heavy iron grate open at the top of the chute and tumbling out onto the sidewalk.
We sprinted blindly down the street, completely covered in black soot, looking like desperate, homeless vagrants.
We ran for three agonizing blocks until we finally reached a neon sign buzzing above a barred window.
The sign read 'Marcus's Gold and Pawn', and it was the only safe haven left in this entire corrupt city.
I banged aggressively on the reinforced glass door until a massive, bearded man unlocked the deadbolt.
"Carmen," Marcus gasped, pulling us quickly inside and locking the heavy steel door behind us.
"Marcus, we need a clean car and as much untraceable cash as you can spare," I demanded without any pleasantries.
Marcus did not ask a single question, he simply nodded and led us into the secure back room of his shop.
He handed Lucy a bottle of water and opened a heavy iron safe hidden behind a framed painting.
"I have five thousand in cash and the keys to my old delivery van parked out back," Marcus said, placing the items on the table.
I felt a massive surge of hope, realizing we actually had a fighting chance to escape the city.
But then Marcus reached over and turned up the volume on the small police scanner sitting on his desk.
The dispatcher's voice cracked through the static, broadcasting a terrifying, city-wide alert.
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"All units, be advised, we have an active Amber Alert for a kidnapped infant named Emiliano."
"The suspect is a Hispanic female named Lucy, considered armed, extremely dangerous, and actively suffering from a psychotic break."
