Chapter 5 - The Public Terminal
Claire stared down the dark barrel of the gun, knowing she only had seconds to react.
She slowly reached down toward her shoe, pretending to comply with his demands.
Her hand quickly grabbed the small canister of pepper spray attached to her keys in her coat pocket.
In one fluid motion, she whipped her arm up and sprayed the burning chemicals directly into Owens’s eyes.
He screamed in agony, dropping the gun into the center console as he clutched his face.
Claire scrambled over the seat, grabbed the gun, and smashed the heavy metal handle against the window.
The glass shattered into a thousand pieces, allowing her to dive out of the car and roll into the muddy brush.
She did not look back as she sprinted blindly through the dense, rain-soaked forest.
After thirty minutes of running, she broke through the treeline and stumbled onto a busy commercial highway.
She spotted a brightly lit truck stop diner and rushed inside, ignoring the strange looks from the waitresses.
Claire locked herself in the manager's back office and booted up the public computer sitting on the desk.
She plugged the USB drive into the tower and opened the massive encrypted files.
The drive contained thousands of emails proving David had bribed judges, laundered millions, and hired Owens to stalk her.
She quickly attached the most damning files to an email and sent it directly to the State Bureau of Investigation.
As she scrolled through the final folder, a specific conversation between David and Margaret caught her eye.
They had been planning to murder Claire for a massive life insurance payout long before the brake tampering incident.
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The final email stated that a remote explosive device had already been wired to the ignition of David’s luxury SUV.
David had intended to let Claire drive the SUV to court today, completely unaware that Ava was currently trapped inside it with him.
