Chapter 7 - The Safehouse in the Pines
By nightfall, the Florida thunderstorm had turned the dirt roads of the backwoods into slick, muddy trenches.
Mark drove an old, rusted pickup truck he had hotwired from an abandoned barn behind the orchard.
Lily slept fitfully on the passenger seat, wrapped in Mark's dark grey shirt, her pale blue dress still torn.
They pulled up to a small, hidden log cabin buried deep within the pine forests of Georgia.
The cabin belonged to Jim Miller, Mark's former commander from his military squad in Fort Bragg.
Jim answered the door wearing a faded flannel shirt, a heavy hunting rifle held loosely in his right hand.
He took one look at Mark's bloodied knuckles and the sleeping child before stepping aside instantly.
"What did Evelyn do this time, Mark?" Jim asked, his voice low and gruff.
"She gave Victor Vance access to Sarah's military trust," Mark replied, setting Lily gently onto a wooden cot.
May you like
Jim swore under his breath, locking the heavy deadbolts on the cabin door.
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