Chapter 3: The Flight Through the Pines
"Run!"
Damon’s roar shattered the tense silence of the beach like a gunshot. Without a second thought, Sienna snatched Ava up into her arms, ignoring the child's frightened gasp, and spun around toward the steep, rocky embankment that led up from the beach into the dense pine forest.
Her lungs burned instantly as she scrambled up the shifting gravel, her sneakers slipping against the wet stones. Behind her, the sharp sound of a scuffle echoed over the crash of the waves—a dull thud, a grunt of exertion, and the sound of heavy boots tearing across the sand.
"Mommy! Where's Daddy? Why are we running?" Ava cried, burying her face into Sienna's shoulder as branches whipped against their jackets.
"Hold on to me, baby! Don't look back!" Sienna panted, her heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird. Every instinct screamed that if she stopped, if she turned around, she would never see another sunrise.
She reached the top of the embankment, bursting through the thick brush and tumbling onto the narrow logging road that wound along the cliffside. Their rusted sedan was parked in a small dirt pullout about a quarter of a mile down the road. If she could just reach the car, lock the doors, and hit the highway toward the local sheriff's station...
Crack.
The sharp report of a silenced gunshot rang out through the quiet pine trees, the bullet snapping a branch inches above Sienna’s head and sending a shower of wood splinters cascading down onto her hair.
Panic surged into overdrive. They were being hunted. Not by local criminals or random thugs, but by professionals who treated human lives like disposable data points.
Sienna sprinted harder, her legs burning, her chest heaving for air in the damp coastal chill. She reached the sedan, fumbling frantically with her keyring before managing to stab the metal key into the ignition lock. The doors clicked open with a welcome mechanical sound. She bundled Ava into the back seat, shoving her down onto the floorboards.
"Stay down, Ava! Cover your head!" Sienna yelled, leaping into the driver's seat and slamming the door shut.
She twisted the key. The aging engine sputtered, coughed twice, and then roared to life with a desperate rattle. Sienna threw the car into reverse, tires spinning wildly on the loose dirt and gravel as she whipped the steering wheel around, spraying mud in a wide arc.
As she slammed the gearshift into drive and rocketed forward down the logging road, a dark silhouette stepped out from the treeline ahead.
It was Vesper.
The woman stood calmly in the middle of the narrow dirt road, showing no fear as the sedan hurtled toward her at forty miles an hour. She raised a heavy, suppressed pistol, aiming directly through the windshield at Sienna’s chest.
Sienna screamed, instinctively ducking her head while keeping her foot jammed hard against the accelerator.
At the last possible second, a dark shadow slammed into Vesper from the side, tackling the assassin hard into the brush and sending her shot flying harmlessly into the canopy above.
May you like
A quick glance in the rearview mirror showed Damon—bruised, bleeding from a cut above his eyebrow, but still fighting—grappling fiercely with Vesper in the mud.
Sienna didn't stop. She couldn't. If she stopped now, Damon’s sacrifice would be for nothing. She tore down the logging road, hurtling toward the safety of the main highway, driving blindly into the gathering storm.
