Chapter 5 - SIRENS IN THE DARK"That's not local precinct," Adrian said, his eyes narrowing as he listened to the distinct pitch of the approaching cruisers. "Those are federal marshals. Someone tipped them off the moment Calder's team went off-grid."
"Wasn't me," I said, my mind racing. If federal authorities swarmed the diner right now, my cover as Mara Bell—the quiet, ordinary waitress—evaporated instantly. Every fingerprint, every facial recognition scan through Interpol databases, would light up like a Christmas tree. Fourteen years of hiding, gone in a single flash of a camera.
Calder smiled weakly, blood staining his teeth. "Looks like your quiet life just expired, Elena."
"Shut up," I hissed, cracking the back of his head against the counter with a sharp rap of the pistol grip. He slumped unconscious onto the floor.
I turned to Adrian. He was bleeding heavily, losing consciousness by the minute. If I left him here, he’d bleed out or take the fall for the entire syndicate. If I took him with me, we were both fugitives.
"Can you walk?" I asked, grabbing him by his uninjured arm and hauling him upward with a strength that shocked even him.
"With your help... yeah," Adrian grunted, his weight leaning heavily against my shoulder.
"We're not going out the front," I said, eyeing the front windows where flashing red and blue lights were already painting the diner walls in chaotic strokes. "The walk-in freezer has an emergency maintenance hatch leading to the back alley."
"And the bodies?" Adrian asked, glancing at the three dead and wounded men on the floor.
"Let Calder explain them to the Feds when he wakes up," I said coldly. "Move."
We slipped into the industrial kitchen just as heavy boots hit the front pavement and a bullhorn crackled to life outside.
“FBI! Stay where you are! Drop your weapons!”
We didn't wait to be invited. I threw open the heavy metal door of the walk-in freezer, hauled Adrian inside, and wedged open the internal emergency latch that led straight out into the dark, rain-slicked alleyway behind the Blue Lantern.
As the cold Chicago wind hit my face, I took one last look back at the diner where I had spent fourteen peaceful, anonymous years.
May you like
It was over. Mara Bell was dead.
And Elena Vance was back in the game.
