Chapter 4 - FLIGHT THROUGH THE RAIN
The midnight rain hit us like a wall of ice.
Penny cried out in shock as the downpour soaked her hair instantly, but I squeezed her tight against my chest and ran down the front steps, taking them two at a time. Behind us, I heard heavy boots clattering against the damp concrete of our porch.
"Mommy! I'm scared!" Penny sobbed into my neck.
"Hold on to me, Penny! Don't let go!" I yelled over the roar of the storm.
I didn't run toward the driveway—they had blocked my SUV with their massive vehicle. Instead, I vaulted over the low wooden fence separating our yard from the Miller family's property next door. I ducked behind their tall privacy hedge, plunging into the dark, muddy alleyway that ran behind the suburban neighborhood block.
Behind us, a beam of heavy flashlight cut through the rain, illuminating the sheets of falling water.
"I see her! She went down the rear alley!" a male voice shouted.
I ran as fast as my legs could carry me, barefoot shoes sinking into the slippery mud. My lungs burned. The hard drive felt like an ingot of lead inside my jacket pocket, heavy and dangerous.
I knew this neighborhood like the back of my hand. I had jogged these streets for five years. I knew that three houses down, the Henderson family had an opening in their chain-link fence where their dog used to escape.
I ducked through the break in the fence, dragging Penny with me, and scrambled through their overgrown backyard bushes. We popped out onto 4th Street, a block over from our house.
I looked back. The flashlights were still sweeping through the alley behind us, but they had lost our direct line of sight.
"Good girl, Penny," I whispered, kneeling down in the lee of a neighbor's parked minivan to catch my breath. I wiped the wet hair from my daughter's face. She was shivering violently, her eyes wide with sheer terror. "You are being so brave. We're almost to Daddy's car."
"Is Daddy coming?" she sniffled, tears mixing with the rainwater on her cheeks.
"Daddy is going to meet us," I lied, praying to whatever higher power was listening that Alex had managed to slip out of the house after leading those men upstairs.
We hurried down 4th Street, staying close to the shadows of the overgrown oak trees lining the sidewalk. Three minutes later, we reached the rear parking lot of the abandoned SuperMart on 5th Street.
Standing under a rusted light pole was Alex’s silver sedan, covered in a thin layer of fallen autumn leaves and road dust.
I pulled his key fob from my pocket with trembling, slippery fingers and pressed the unlock button. The taillights flashed red—a beacon of hope in the pitch-black night.
I threw open the rear door, strapped Penny tightly into the back seat, and slammed the door shut. I leaped into the driver's seat, locked all doors instantly, and shoved the key into the ignition.
The engine turned over with a sharp roar.
I slammed the car into reverse, pulled out of the parking lot, and hit the main avenue just as the headlights of the black SUV appeared in my rearview mirror, turning sharply off 4th Street.
May you like
They had spotted us.
I pressed my foot flat against the accelerator. The sedan surged forward into the dark, rainy highway, heading straight toward the downtown skyline of Chicago.
