Chapter 9 - The Race Against Midnight
The shattered glass crunched beneath Liya’s sneakers as she scrambled through the window frame into the cold, driving rain. The chill hit her like a physical blow, instantly soaking through her blouse, but she didn't slow down.
"Through the tree line!" the guard shouted over the roar of the storm, pointing toward a muddy slope that descended toward the ravine. "There's an ATV hidden by the creek bed. Can you ride?"
"Yes!" Liya lied, her heart pounding a frantic rhythm as they sprinted through the dense brush, branches whipping against her face and arms.
Behind them, angry shouts erupted from the lodge. A volley of gunshots tore through the canopy overhead, the high-velocity rounds snapping pine needles and thudding into tree trunks just inches to their left.
"Down!" the guard roared, tackling Liya into the muddy embankment as a bullet chipped a boulder right beside her ear.
He fired three suppressing shots back toward the lodge, buying them precious seconds, before grabbing her elbow and dragging her the rest of the way down the slope.
At the bottom of the ravine sat a heavy-duty all-terrain vehicle half-covered by a camo tarp. The guard ripped the tarp away, vaulted into the driver's seat, and jammed a skeleton key into the ignition. The engine sputtered once, coughed, and then roared to life with a deep, throaty growl.
Liya scrambled onto the passenger seat, gripping the roll cage with white knuckles as the ATV fishtailed violently in the mud, shooting forward down the narrow logging trail.
"How far to the highway?" Liya yelled over the engine and the howling wind.
"Four miles!" the guard shouted back, wrestling the handlebars as the vehicle bounced over exposed roots and rocks. "If we hit Route 7 by 11:35, we can flag down a transport before Elena’s backup cuts us off!"
Liya checked her watch. 11:22 PM.
Thirteen minutes until midnight. Thirteen minutes until Adrian signed away his entire legacy—or walked into a fatal trap to save her.
As the ATV rounded a sharp bend in the trail, a pair of blinding headlights suddenly swept across the trees ahead. Blocking the narrow path was a heavy black SUV, its engine idling, doors flung open as two armed men stepped out into the path with automatic rifles raised.
"Ambush!" the guard cursed, slamming on the brakes. The ATV skidded wildly in the mud, spraying dirt and gravel in a wide arc before coming to a violent stop just thirty feet from the blockade.
The men raised their weapons, their faces illuminated by the SUV’s high beams.
"Get down!" the guard yelled, shoving Liya into the footwell of the ATV just as the first burst of automatic gunfire shattered the vehicle's plastic windshield.
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Glass exploded everywhere, showering over Liya’s back as she curled into a tight ball on the muddy floorboards, listening to the deafening chatter of gunfire shredding the night around them.
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