Chapter 10 - The Riverbank Echo
I scrambled down the damp concrete ladder into the tunnel, pulling Leo close behind me as the heavy metal hatch slammed shut overhead with a loud, metallic clang.
The air inside the concrete pipe was cool and damp, echoing with the distant, steady rush of the river outside. Holding my phone’s flashlight app on low, I guided Leo through the shallow, trickling water along the floor, our boots splashing softly against the concrete.
Above us, through the thick walls and floorboards of the boathouse, we heard the heavy splintering sound of the front doors being kicked off their hinges.
Then, Marcus’s booming voice echoed through the structure, clearly audible down the pipe.
"Well, if it isn't Arthur's little errand boys! Did my sister send you to fetch her laundry, or did she finally realize she left her conscience in the driveway?"
A sharp, authoritarian voice snapped back—Arthur’s lead attorney, shouting orders to search the building.
I kept moving, pulling Leo faster through the dark tunnel toward the faint circle of gray light visible fifty yards ahead where the pipe emptied out near the abandoned lumber mill.
My heart pounded with every step, the adrenaline keeping the cold and fatigue at bay. We reached the end of the tunnel, climbing up a steep embankment of mud and dry reeds until we broke out into the pale morning light beside the riverbank.
Parked fifty feet away in a thicket of overgrown pine trees was Marcus’s dusty red pickup truck, its engine idling softly, exhaust pluming white into the freezing air.
I breathed a massive sigh of relief, scooping Leo into my arms and sprinting across the frozen grass toward the truck.
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I yanked the passenger door open, buckled Leo safely inside the cab, and slid into the driver’s seat. As I reached for the steering wheel, my hand brushed against a small, glowing device plugged into the truck’s auxiliary port—a satellite tracker flashing a steady red light.
Before I could process what it meant, the passenger side window exploded inward in a shower of glittering glass.
