Chapter 5 - The Alleyway Escape
The air filled with the sharp, acrid smell of burnt rubber and gunpowder as Cole grunted, throwing a sharp elbow into David’s ribs. David gasped for air but refused to let go, pinning Cole’s right arm against the splintered wood of the smashed display case to keep him from drawing his sidearm.
"Get Maya!" David shouted over the chaos, looking up toward Anna, who was standing paralyzed near the pantry door.
Anna snapped out of her shock, wrenching open the pantry door and scooping little Maya up into her arms. The terrified child buried her face in her mother's neck as Anna sprinted toward the gaping hole where the rear service doors used to be.
"You're not going anywhere!" one of the tactical operatives yelled, turning his rifle toward Anna.
Before the man could squeeze the trigger, Marcus Vance—no, Marcus... wait. Before the operative could fire, a heavy metal baking sheet came flying across the room with terrifying velocity, striking the gunman squarely in the helmet and spinning him off balance.
Marcus wasn't there, but another figure lunged out from the alley shadows—a burly man in a mechanic's jumpsuit wielding a heavy iron crowbar, slamming it across the operative's chest and sending him crashing into a stack of flour sacks.
"Move, move, move!" the mechanic yelled in a gravelly voice, waving frantically toward Anna and Maya.
David managed to wrench the pistol free from Cole’s holster, pressing the cold steel barrel directly against the enforcer's cheek. "It's over, Cole. Call off your dogs or the next sound you hear won't be a warning."
Cole glared up at David, blood trickling from a cut above his left eyebrow, but a twisted smile remained on his lips. "You think killing me stops them, Vance? The syndicate has eyes in every police precinct and federal office from here to the coast. You can run, but you'll spend every day of your life looking over your shoulder."
"I've spent seven years looking over my shoulder," David said coldly, pressing the butt of the pistol hard against Cole's temple until the man’s eyes rolled back in unconsciousness.
David stood up quickly, his heart hammering against his ribs like a trapped bird. He sprinted through the shattered rear doorway into the alley, where the idling diesel SUV sat waiting with its doors flung wide open.
Anna and Maya were already inside in the back seat, wrapped in a heavy wool blanket. The driver—the burly mechanic who had intervened—was leaning against the steering wheel, urging David to hurry.
"Get in! They've got backup units five minutes away!" the driver shouted.
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David vaulted into the passenger seat, slamming the heavy door shut. "Drive!"
The SUV squealed its tires, tearing out of the narrow alleyway and disappearing into the gray, sprawling labyrinth of the city streets just as sirens began wailing in the distance.
