Chapter 16 - The Long Road North
The armored Suburban cut through the pre-dawn fog like a phantom, its supercharged engine roaring as it left the burning hills of the estate far behind. In the back seat, Salvatore lay slumped against the bulkhead, his wounded thigh tightly bandaged with a field tourniquet Marcus had applied with practiced efficiency.
Lily sat quietly beside Ethan, her battered leather journal resting safely in her lap. She looked out the bulletproof window at the dark, rolling hills of the northern highway, the neon signs of the city fading into the distance.
Up front, Daniel drove with both hands gripping the steering wheel, his face illuminated only by the green glow of the dashboard instruments. Marcus sat in the passenger seat, his eyes heavy with exhaustion, pressing a thick gauze pad against his bleeding chest wound.
"Where are we heading, Boss?" Marcus asked quietly, his voice strained. "The entire eastern seaboard is going to be locked down by noon once Arthur realizes the data dump was real."
"We're not stopping at the border," Daniel said, his voice steady and resolute. "We keep moving past the St. Lawrence. I know a contact in Quebec who owes me a favor. We set up a new baseline there."
Ethan leaned forward from the back seat, resting his arms on the console between the two front seats. He looked at his father, his eyes reflecting the amber lights of the highway.
"The data dump worked, Dad," Ethan said quietly, holding up the ruggedized laptop. "Arthur’s office just went dark. The Department of Justice has already suspended his clearance. By sunrise, the entire federal investigation into our holdings will be tied up in internal ethics tribunals for the next five years."
Daniel reached out with one hand, resting his palm gently against the back of his son's head for a brief, grounding moment. "Good work, son. But this life... it's over for you. When we cross the border, you and Lily are going to a school where nobody knows our name. You're going to live like normal kids."
"Normal?" Lily piped up from the back, a faint, wry smile touching her lips as she clutched her journal tighter. "Mr. Carter, after everything we've been through this week, do you honestly think either of us could ever go back to normal?"
May you like
Daniel let out a short, dry chuckle—the first real laugh he had shared in days. He looked in the rearview mirror, meeting his son's gaze with an expression of quiet pride.
"No," Daniel admitted, shifting gears as the Suburban accelerated into the dark, open highway stretching toward the Canadian border. "Probably not."
