CHAPTER 5 — THE WOMAN WHO CHOSE TO RUN
CHAPTER 5 — THE WOMAN WHO CHOSE TO RUN
Snow swirled through the forest as the attackers closed in from every direction.
"One minute!" the voice boomed again.
"Surrender the child, and the rest of you may live."
Emily looked down at Aurora.
The little girl had finally fallen asleep against her chest, unaware that dozens of armed men were hunting her.
Dominic's breathing grew weaker.
He grabbed Emily's sleeve.
"Don't... believe them."
She nodded.
"I won't."
A bodyguard named Mason knelt beside Dominic.
"Boss, there's an old ranger station two miles north. If we split up, some of us can draw them away."
Dominic's eyes shifted toward Emily.
"No..."
Mason understood immediately.
"The mother and the baby."
Dominic gave a faint nod.
"They're... the priority."
Emily blinked.
"I'm not her mother."
Dominic managed the slightest smile.
"You became... the moment you chose her."
Before Emily could answer, another volley of bullets ripped through the wreckage.
"Move!" Mason shouted.
Smoke grenades exploded around them.
Gray clouds swallowed the clearing.
Mason grabbed Emily's arm.
"This way!"
They sprinted into the forest.
Branches whipped across Emily's face as she struggled through the snow, clutching Aurora beneath her coat.
Behind them, automatic gunfire echoed through the trees.
Dominic and the remaining guards were making their stand.
Emily stopped.
"I can't leave him!"
Mason pulled her forward.
"If you go back, everyone dies—including Aurora."
Tears blurred Emily's vision.
She kept running.
Nearly an hour later, they reached the abandoned ranger station.
The cabin was old but sturdy.
Mason barred the door.
Another guard, Victor, checked the windows.
"We bought some time."
Emily carefully laid Aurora on a dusty couch.
The baby stirred.
Then opened her eyes.
For the first time, Emily truly saw them.
Bright blue.
Exactly like her father's.
Aurora reached toward Emily.
Tiny fingers wrapped around hers.
Emily's heart broke all over again.
She remembered two other tiny hands.
Two sons she would never hold again.
A soft knock interrupted her thoughts.
Three knocks.
Then two.
Mason relaxed.
"It's our signal."
The door opened.
A blood-covered Dominic staggered inside.
Emily gasped.
"You're alive!"
He smiled weakly.
"Barely."
She rushed to help him.
His shirt was soaked with blood.
The bullet had passed through his shoulder—but another wound had opened across his ribs.
"You need a hospital."
"I can't go."
"They'll find you."
"They already have."
Dominic looked at Aurora sleeping peacefully.
"I only need one more day."
"For what?"
"To finish something."
Emily frowned.
"What?"
Before he could answer, his satellite phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
He answered without speaking.
A distorted voice laughed.
"You've been difficult to kill."
Dominic remained silent.
"We have your accountant."
Silence.
"We have your lawyer."
Another pause.
"And now..."
The voice chuckled.
"We have someone much more interesting."
A woman cried in the background.
Emily couldn't make out her face.
But Dominic could.
His expression changed instantly.
"No..."
The voice laughed again.
"You recognize her."
Emily stared at him.
"Who is she?"
Dominic whispered only two words.
"My sister."
The line went dead.
That night, while Dominic drifted in and out of consciousness, Emily couldn't sleep.
She finally remembered the envelope.
Slowly...
She broke the seal.
Inside wasn't paper.
It was a small encrypted flash drive.
Along with a handwritten note.
It read:
If you're reading this, I probably failed. Trust no one—not even the FBI.
Emily's pulse quickened.
There was another line beneath it.
The only person who can unlock the files is... Emily Carter.
She froze.
"What?"
She had never met Dominic before today.
May you like
So how...
How did he already know her name?
