Chapter 7 - The Waters of Midnight
""Take the child and head into the tree line behind the shed,"" Julian ordered, cocking the slide of his handgun. ""Follow the drainage ditch toward the highway. There’s an all-night diner three miles south.""
""I am not leaving you behind again,"" Elena hissed, quickly scooping Leo into a baby wrap secured tightly against her chest, pulling her dark jacket over him to keep him warm. ""You can barely walk without staggering. You won't survive a firefight alone.""
""Elena, listen to me—""
The front window shattered inward in an explosion of glass shards and splintered wood. Julian grabbed Elena, throwing them both behind the heavy stone hearth as suppressed gunshots peppered the timber walls with deadly accuracy.
Puffs of insulation and plaster drifted like snow through the dark air. Leo shrieked in terror beneath Elena’s coat, the sudden violence shattering the quiet night.
Julian leaned around the stonework and fired three rapid shots into the darkness. A muffled groan echoed from the porch, followed by the heavy thump of a body falling.
""Back door,"" Julian commanded, his voice tight. ""Now!""
Elena bolted toward the rear entry, kicking the latch open. The cold lakeside wind hit her like a wall. Julian covered her retreat, firing two more rounds toward the front entrance before following her into the black woods.
They ran through the tangled underbrush, pine branches whipping against Elena’s face. She shielded Leo with her arms, her boots slipping on wet leaves and slick mud. Behind them, flashlights danced between the pine trunks, accompanied by the urgent shouts of men coordinating a search perimeter.
""Over here!"" a voice shouted from their left flank.
Julian turned, firing twice to suppress the flanker, but his slide locked back. He was out of ammunition. He tossed the useless metal into the brush and grabbed Elena’s hand, pulling her toward the rocky bank of the river that fed the lake.
A rusted flat-bottom aluminum rowboat sat tied to an old wooden post beneath an overhanging willow.
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""Get in,"" Julian breathed, his chest heaving with exertion.
Elena clambered into the boat, crouching low with Leo. Julian severed the frayed mooring rope with a pocketknife and shoved the craft out into the fast-moving current before tumbling over the bow. The dark, swollen river seized the boat, carrying them downstream into the pitch-black maw of the gorge, just as automatic gunfire shredded the willow branches above their heads.
