Chapter 8 - The Road to Marblehead
The snow began falling in thick, white sheets as the two-car convoy left Beacon Hill at ten o'clock at night.
Adriana sat in the back of the lead SUV, wrapped in a plush wool coat, watching the snow transform the historic streets of Boston into a white, silent landscape. Damon sat beside her, holding a tablet computer that displayed real-time tracking of their route and security feeds.
In the front seat, Leo drove with steady, practiced precision, his eyes constantly scanning the rear-view mirror. A second SUV followed fifty yards behind them, carrying three armed security men.
“Is something wrong, Damon?” Adriana asked, noticing the tension in his shoulders and the frequent glances he gave his tablet.
“Just bad weather,” Damon lied smoothly, leaning over to tuck a wool blanket tighter around her legs. “I want you settled in Marblehead before the storm blocks the coastal roads.”
Adriana looked at him closely. She had spent five years married to Eli Voss; she knew the subtle signs of danger. She knew the way men in their world grew quiet, the way their eyes moved, the way their hands rested near their jacket lapels.
“It’s not just the weather,” she said softly.
Damon didn't answer immediately. He reached out and took her hand, squeezing it gently. “Nothing is going to happen to you, Adriana. I give you my word.”
Suddenly, Leo’s voice cut through the silence. “Boss. Rear vehicle reports a dark commercial truck running without headlights two hundred yards behind them on the off-ramp.”
Damon’s head whipped toward the rear window.
Through the heavy snowfall, two dim yellow fog lights materialized behind the escort vehicle. The road along this stretch of Route 1 was dark, bordered by thick woods and salt marshes, miles away from the nearest police station.
“Tell team two to block,” Damon commanded sharply into his radio.
The escort SUV slowed down, swaying across the two lanes to prevent the truck from passing. But the commercial truck didn't slow down. It accelerated, its heavy steel bumper slamming into the back of the escort vehicle with a sickening crunch of metal and shattering glass.
The escort SUV spun out on the icy asphalt, crashing into the snowbank at the side of the road.
“Leo, go!” Damon roared.
Leo slammed his foot onto the accelerator. The heavy SUV surged forward, its all-wheel-drive tires digging into the slush, but the commercial truck was already recovering, its engine roaring as it pursued them through the storm.
Adriana gasped, clutching her belly with both hands as the vehicle jolted. A sharp, searing pain shot through her lower back—a real contraction, far stronger than any she had felt before.
“Damon!” she cried out, her face going pale.
Damon wrapped his left arm around her, pulling her tightly against his chest to protect her from the momentum of the car, while drawing a silver semi-automatic pistol from his shoulder holster with his right hand.
“Leo! Take the coastal exit!” Damon shouted. “There’s a private harbor staging area two miles ahead! It has a gated yard!”
“On it!” Leo yelled, spinning the steering wheel as the SUV skidded onto a narrow, snow-covered exit ramp leading toward the water.
Behind them, the commercial truck followed, its high beams flashing on, blinding them through the rear glass. The truck swerved to ram them from the side.
Leo executed a violent handbrake turn, sliding the heavy vehicle through the open gates of an old industrial boatyard. The SUV crashed through a wooden barrier and came to a halt behind a row of stacked shipping containers, hidden from the main road.
The truck roared past the gate, missing them by twenty feet, its tires screaming as it slid on the ice further down the road.
Silence descended on the SUV, broken only by the heavy breathing of the three occupants and the howling of the wind outside.
Damon looked down at Adriana. She was shaking violently, her hands locked around his coat, her eyes wide with terror and intense pain.
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“Adriana,” Damon whispered, his voice trembling for the first time in his life. “Are you hit? Did you hit your head?”
“Damon...” she gasped, her body arching in agony as another massive contraction hit her. “The baby... the baby is coming now.”
