Chapter 27 - The Abandoned Marina
The rain transformed the coastal highway into a slick ribbon of black glass. Fog crept up from the churning sea, swallowing the headlights of Daniel’s SUV as he killed the engine two hundred yards from the entrance of the Old Point Marina.
The marina looked like a graveyard of rotting wooden docks and rusted shipping containers. The skeletal frames of decommissioned fishing trawlers groaned against the storm surge.
"There," Grace whispered, pointing through the wiper-cleared windshield.
Tucked behind an overturned bait shack sat a white, unmarked cargo van. Its headlights were off, but exhaust fumes drifted in faint, white tendrils from the tailpipe.
"Stay in the car, Grace," Daniel muttered, reaching into the glove compartment and pulling out a heavy steel tire wrench.
"Not a chance in hell," Grace countered, pulling a high-powered tactical flashlight and her small medical shears from her coat pocket. "Lily knows my voice. If she’s panicked, she’ll run toward me. We go together."
Daniel looked at her, seeing no fear—only the fierce, protective instinct that had saved his daughter once before. He nodded once.
They moved like ghosts through the shadows of the rusted containers, rain plastering their clothes to their skin. The smell of brine, decaying seaweed, and cheap diesel fuel hung thick in the air.
As they closed the distance to the van, Daniel heard voices arguing over the sound of the surf.
"I told you the boat was supposed to be fueled by midnight!" Victoria’s shriek pierced the wind. "Where is the captain, Julian?!"
"He backed out, you crazy bitch!" Julian’s rough voice snarled back. "The state police put out an amber alert five minutes ago! Every radio station on the Eastern seaboard is broadcasting our faces! Nobody is taking us across international waters for fifty grand!"
"Then we take the boat ourselves!" Victoria screamed. "I am not going back to that cell! Look at me! I am Victoria Vance! I don't rot in county cages!"
"You're a fugitive who just kidnapped a child!" Julian roared back. "Listen to the radio! They're treating this as domestic terrorism because of the ambush on the guards! That guard might die, Victoria! We leave the kid here and split up!"
Through the cracked rear window of the van, Daniel caught a glimpse of movement.
May you like
A tiny figure tied to the jump seat, wrapped in a blue blanket, sobbing silently.
***
