LOGINWe ran for three days straight.Through forests. Across rivers. Avoiding roads, cameras, civilization.Hope cried the first night. Silent tears that broke my heart more than screams would have."Mama, why are the police bad now?""They are not bad, sweetheart. They are confused. Someone lied to them about Daddy.""Will they take him away?"I looked at Damien. Carrying our daughter on his back. Face gaunt with exhaustion and something worse. Guilt."No one takes Daddy away. I promise."Promises I might not keep.On the fourth day, we reached Sarah's backup location. An abandoned mining facility in Idaho. Deep underground. Off every grid."This will hold us for maybe a week," she said, setting up equipment. "Then they will find us. Satellites. Thermal imaging. Dogs. They have unlimited resources. We have—" She gestured at our meager supplies. "This.""Then we need to change the game." I spread out maps. News reports. Everything Sarah had pulled from the dark web. "Victoria thinks she ha
I woke to flames and screaming.The explosion had collapsed half the church. Timber beams pinned my legs. Smoke filled my lungs. Through the ringing in my ears, I heard Hope crying somewhere distant."Hope—" I choked on ash and blood."She's safe." Damien appeared, face blackened with soot. He lifted the beam. "Sarah got her out before the blast. This was secondary charges. Victoria planned for everything.""Where is she—""Gone. Escaped in the chaos." He pulled me up. "We need to move. Now."Outside, the church was a funeral pyre. Arnold lay wounded, leg shattered. Cassidy bandaged his thigh with torn shirt fabric. Sarah held Hope twenty yards away, shielding her eyes from the destruction."She left something." Sarah held up a phone. "Message for you."I took it. Video message. Victoria's face filled the screen."You hesitated, Flora. That tells me everything. You are not a killer. Not really. Which means you are weak. And weakness gets family killed. I gave you a chance. You refused
We disappeared for six months after the building collapse.Not running. Planning.Sarah secured us a location. Montana. Deep wilderness. No roads. No neighbors. No way to find us without satellite tracking, which she jammed constantly."Victoria will come eventually," she said. "But this buys time. Time to heal. Time to prepare. Time to become hunters instead of prey."We trained. Every day. Damien taught me advanced combat. Sarah taught surveillance. Arnold taught strategy.Hope turned three. Learned to read. Learned to shoot a child-sized rifle at targets."She is too young—" I protested."She is an Ashford target." Damien adjusted her stance. "Too young means dead. Old enough to defend herself means alive. Choose."I chose alive.Every night, I studied Victoria. Her patterns. Her resources. Her psychology."She is patient," Arnold noted. "Has not made a move in six months. No attacks. No threats. No communication. That means she is planning something bigger. Worse.""Or she is wait
Three months of peace shattered when Hope disappeared from daycare."What do you mean she is gone?" I gripped the director's desk. "You called me fifteen minutes ago. She was here fifteen minutes ago.""We did headcount. She was there. Then—we do not know. We checked the cameras—" The director pulled up footage. "This."The screen showed Hope's classroom. Children playing. Teachers supervising. Then—static. Sixty seconds of corrupted video. When it cleared, Hope was gone."Someone hacked your system." Damien was already on his phone. "Arnold, Hope is missing. Daycare. Professional extraction. I need—" He stopped. His face went white. "What do you mean Arnold is gone too?"I grabbed the phone. "Sarah? What happened?""He left this morning. Said he had a meeting. Never came back. His phone is off. His tracker is dead." Sarah's voice was tight. "Cassidy is also missing. Left the safe house six hours ago. No communication since.""Victoria." The name was acid. "She is taking everyone. One
"You are not dying." The words fell flat in the elegant foyer. "Victoria lied.""Victoria told you what I needed her to tell you." Vera gestured to a sitting room. "Please. Sit. We have much to discuss before I decide how you die.""I came here for a trade. Me for Hope's freedom—""And you will get exactly that. After we talk. After you understand what you destroyed. After you suffer appropriately." She moved with the grace of someone decades younger. No cane. No tremor. "The cancer was real. Six months ago. Then I received experimental treatment. Very expensive. Very effective. I am in remission. I have years left. Many years to make you pay."My blood went cold. "The trade was based on you dying—""The trade was based on desperation. Yours. I exploited it. Just as you exploited my son. My grandson. My empire." She poured tea like we were having a social visit. "Sit, Flora. Or I call my people and they kill Damien, Hope, and everyone you love. Starting with the baby. I have snipers p
"Turn around." I repeated. "Take me to Vera Ashford.""Absolutely not." Damien grabbed my arm. "That is suicide—""That is the only way Hope stays free. You heard Vera. Every agency is looking for Emma. They find her, they take her. I lose her forever. Unless I trade myself.""We fight. We run. We find another way—""There is no other way!" I pulled free. "Vera is dying. She has nothing to lose. Two hundred people desperate to protect their secrets. We cannot win this. Not conventionally. Not with Hope as collateral."Arnold met my eyes in the rearview mirror. "What are you planning?""I go to Vera. Alone. I surrender. While I distract her, you find The Archive. Destroy it. Remove her leverage. Then—""Then she kills you anyway," Cassidy finished. "Because Vera does not negotiate. Does not forgive. She is not Marcus or Richard. She is worse.""I know. But maybe I buy enough time. Maybe I stall long enough for you to finish the job." I looked at Hope. Sleeping now. Exhausted from cryin







