Sam threw herself through the window, shattering the remaining glass, feeling it cut into her in a dozen places, rolled, and came up sprinting at the retreating rear of the van. It disappeared out the gate as she crossed the courtyard. She could feel Jake’s pain and fear but she ignored it, pushed herself harder. Her left tricep groaned with the pain of the bullet wound, but Sam ignored that too. She made the gate at a full sprint and could see the van ahead, reaching the turn in the road. She ran harder, putting every ounce of effort into her legs, feeling her lungs burning, willing the van to slow down at the turn.

The van hit the turn at speed, skidded as it came around, its tires biting into the gravel, its driver expertly navigating the road.

She threw herself forward with all she had, sent her body into a horizontal leap, arms extended. One finger brushed the bumper, and for a moment she knew she had it, knew she would stop these men, whoever they were, knew she would have her children back.

Then her finger slipped off, and she crashed, rolling and skidding into the gravel as the van sped away.

Sam lay there panting for a moment. The jeep. They’d abandoned the jeep.

She pushed herself to her feet. There was gravel in the skin of her face. The palms of her hands were lacerated from her fall. A dozen cuts covered her from the glass of the window. Dust was matting blood into her hair, onto her face, everywhere. She ran hard, back uphill, got in view of the gate in time to see the jeep go up in a fireball that hit her with its searing heat from here.

She kept running, her mind refusing to believe, willing herself to find a fire extinguisher, put out the flames, chase them down.

And then she saw Jake.

Chapter 34: Most to Gain

34

MOST TO GAIN

Saturday October 27th

Holtzmann forced himself to sleep via Nexus. He had to rest. He had to clear his head. He had to get perspective.

He woke too soon, his heart pounding in his chest. The clock in his mind read 1.16am.

He couldn’t shake this dread. Couldn’t shake this fear that he’d been so wrong. That he’d misunderstood everything. That the world was an even darker place than he’d suspected.

He slipped out of bed, as silently as he could. Anne murmured something. He looked at her and his heart ached. What had happened that he’d decided to lie to her? To hide what was going on? What would happen now? If he was right… If he was right… Her life was in danger too.

Let me be wrong, he prayed to a God he hadn’t believed in since his teens. Please, Lord, let me be wrong.