Chapter 12 - The Iron Gates
The high beams behind them split into two separate lanes, flanking Ethan’s vehicle on both sides as they climbed the narrow winding road along the cliffs.
""Hold onto him!"" Ethan yelled to Claire, flooring the gas pedal. The heavy SUV roared forward, its tires biting into the wet asphalt as they took a hairpin turn dangerously close to the rocky drop-off.
The lead pursuer—a customized armored truck—slammed into Ethan’s rear bumper. The force of the blow threw the vehicle sideways, its tires screeching against the edge of the cliff. Loose gravel cascaded down into the raging black surf hundred feet below.
Ethan fought the steering wheel, his muscles screaming from exhaustion, forcing the vehicle back onto the pavement.
Up ahead, two massive wrought-iron gates emerged through the coastal fog, flanked by towering stone walls.
""There it is!"" Claire cried out.
The gates were slowly swinging open, but the second chasing vehicle accelerated suddenly, pulling directly alongside Ethan's passenger door. The tinted window rolled down, revealing the barrel of a shotgun aimed directly at Claire.
""Get down!"" Ethan screamed, wrenching the wheel hard to the right.
He deliberately rammed his own SUV into the flank of the attacker's truck. Metal crunched with a deafening screech. The shotgun blast went wild, blowing out the top corner of Ethan’s windshield and showering the roof with pellets.
The impact sent the attacker’s truck spinning out of control. It hit the wet grass verge, flipped twice in a horrific spray of debris, and slammed into a massive oak tree by the roadside.
Ethan didn't slow down. He drove through the half-open iron gates at sixty miles per hour, tires sliding across the pristine gravel driveway of the Vance estate.
Behind them, four heavily armed private security guards employed by the Vance estate rushed forward, sliding heavy steel anti-vehicle barricades into place behind Ethan’s car and sealing the iron gates.
Ethan slammed on the brakes in front of the illuminated stone manor. The engine hissed with steam, completely wrecked.
He jumped out, rushing around to pull Claire and Noah from the passenger seat. Claire collapsed into his arms, completely spent, barely conscious.
The double doors of the manor opened wide. Flanked by three armed guards, an elegant, silver-haired woman in a dark cashmere coat stood on the portico. Her sharp, aristocratic features were strikingly similar to Claire’s.
Evelyn Vance walked down the stone steps, her eyes locking onto Claire’s pale face, and then down to the crying child wrapped in Ethan’s ruined coat.
""She has Eleanor's eyes,"" Evelyn whispered, her voice cracking with deep, long-buried emotion. ""Bring them inside immediately! Call the trauma team!""
As two private medics rushed forward with a stretcher, the screeching sound of sirens echoed from the bottom of the cliff road.
Dozens of flashing red and blue lights illuminated the fog below.
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""The police are here,"" Ethan said, his chest heaving as he stood guard beside the stretcher.
Evelyn turned toward the gates, her face settling into a mask of pure, merciless power. ""Those aren't just the police, Ethan. That is the State Attorney General. And Richard Sterling is with them.""
