Chapter 5 - The Chase
The drive to the Miller’s Creek airfield was a terrifying blur of dangerous speeds and squealing tires.
Marcus drove his luxury sedan like a professional getaway driver, weaving recklessly through the sparse late-night traffic.
My phone buzzed relentlessly with incoming texts from my mother.
“You should have just let the past stay in the past, Claire.”
“I did what I had to do to protect this family.”
“If you follow me, you will never see Harper again.”
I read the messages aloud to Marcus, my stomach twisting into painful knots.
“She is completely unhinged,” Marcus said, his knuckles turning white on the steering wheel.
“The FBI has already dispatched tactical units to the airfield, but we are closer.”
“We have to stall her until they arrive,” I replied, staring out the window into the dark, passing woods.
The airfield was a small, privately owned airstrip used mostly by wealthy businessmen and crop dusters.
As we approached the entrance, the flashing lights of a small jet turbine illuminated the foggy runway.
My mother’s silver SUV was parked erratically near the boarding stairs of the twin-engine plane.
Marcus slammed on the brakes, sliding the sedan horizontally across the tarmac to block the plane’s only path to the runway.
I threw open the passenger door before the car even fully stopped.
The deafening roar of the jet engines made it impossible to hear anything else.
I saw my mother dragging Harper by the wrist up the metal stairs of the aircraft.
Harper was crying, digging her heels into the metal steps and fighting with all her teenage strength.
“Let her go!” I screamed, sprinting across the cold asphalt toward the plane.
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My mother turned, her face twisting into a mask of pure, ugly rage when she saw me approaching.
She reached into her heavy winter coat and pulled out a small, silver revolver.
