Chapter 6 - The South Side Extraction
The rain was coming down in heavy, blinding sheets as Marcus’s armored sedan tore through the streets toward South Chicago.
My hands trembled in my lap as I redialed my home phone for the tenth time.
Ring... ring... ring...
"Come on, Mom, pick up," I whispered, tears pricking my eyes. "Please pick up..."
"Clara?" my mother’s tired, soft voice finally came through the speaker. "Clara, why are you calling at 3:00 AM? Is everything okay at your shift?"
"Mom!" I sobbed with relief. "Listen to me very carefully. Are the doors locked? Is Leo in his room?"
"Yes, of course," Mom said, her tone suddenly alert with maternal panic. "Leo is sleeping, and the girls are in their bed. Clara, what's going on? You're scaring me."
"Mom, I need you to wake Leo up right now," I ordered, leaning into the phone speaker. "Tell him to pack a bag with his tools, his laptop, and all of Elijah's old blue-ringed notebooks from the attic. Do not open the door for anyone except me and a man named Marcus Vance. We will be there in five minutes!"
Two minutes later, Marcus slammed the brakes in front of my small, worn two-story house on 84th Street.
We rushed up the porch steps just as two sleek black SUVs pulled up to the curb behind us, their headlights cutting through the dark rain like hunting searchlights.
"THEY'RE HERE!" I screamed, pulling open the front door and slamming it shut behind us, throwing the heavy deadbolt.
"Mom!" Leo called out, rushing down the stairs holding his rusted metal toolbox and a thick canvas backpack. He was sixteen, tall, lean, with his grandfather Elijah's dark hair and sharp, inquisitive eyes. "Mom, who are those cars outside?"
"No time to explain, sweetie!" I said, grabbing my twin seven-year-old daughters, Mia and Chloe, who were rubbing their eyes in their pajamas. "Grandma, get your coat!"
Marcus pulled a heavy silver radio from his jacket. "Tactical Alpha, this is Vance. Intercept the vehicles on 84th Street. Non-lethal containment."
Suddenly, three heavy unmarked vans turned the corner, pinning Julian’s SUVs against the curb. Ten armed security guards wearing private security uniforms spilled out, surrounding Julian’s men before they could even open their doors.
Leo stared out the living room window, his mouth agape. "Mom... who is that guy in the suit? Why are there SWAT guys in our yard?"
I grabbed Leo by the shoulders, looking directly into his eyes. "Leo, do you remember the stories I told you about your Grandfather Elijah? About how he was a brilliant inventor who built things that changed the world?"
May you like
Leo nodded slowly. "Yeah... the guy who got cheated out of his company."
"He wasn't just cheated, Leo," I whispered, tears streaming down my face. "His partner, Adrian Sterling, has spent the last thirty years trying to give it back to us. And right now, that dying man needs your help to save his life."
