Chapter 5 - The Ambush at Miller’s CreekThe sedan tore around a sharp curve, tires screeching against the wet gravel of Miller’s Creek Bridge. The old iron bridge spanned a swollen, churning river below, its rusted suspension cables vibrating in the damp air.
“They’re gaining!” Elena shouted, watching the blinding high beams fill the back window.
The lead SUV slammed its front bumper directly into the rear quarter-panel of Lucian’s car. The impact sent a violent shudder through the frame, throwing Elena sideways against the passenger door.
“Hang on!” Lucian roared, wrestling the steering wheel with one hand while dropping the car into a lower gear.
Instead of fleeing straight across the bridge, Lucian suddenly yanked the emergency brake, throwing the heavy sedan into a violent, 180-degree Scandinavian flick. The car spun across the wet road in a cloud of burning rubber, facing back toward the pursuers with its headlights blinding the oncoming SUVs.
“Are you insane?!” Elena screamed.
Before Lucian could answer, he reached into the glove compartment, pulled out a heavy, matte-black submachine gun, and tossed it into her lap.
“Can you shoot?” he demanded.
Elena stared at the weapon in her hands. The metal was cold, heavy, and lethal. Memories of her father taking her to the firing range when she was sixteen flashed through her mind—muscle memory she thought she would never need again.
“I qualified expert,” she said, her voice dropping into a cold, steady register.
“Good,” Lucian said, kicking the car doors open as the SUVs screeched to a halt fifty yards away. “Because they aren't here to arrest us!”
Doors slammed open across the bridge. Shouts echoed over the roar of the river below. Muzzle flashes suddenly bloomed in the dark like deadly fireflies as automatic gunfire chewed into the pavement around them, sending sparks flying into the night.
Lucian returned fire with crisp, controlled bursts, his aim devastatingly accurate even with his injured shoulder. Two men in tactical gear dropped behind the lead SUV, scrambling for cover.
“Elena! On the passenger side!” Lucian yelled over the deafening rattle of gunfire.
She shoved her door open, using the heavy steel frame as cover. She raised the submachine gun, squinted through the smoke, and squeezed the trigger. The recoil jolted through her arms, but she held her line, shattering the windshield of the trailing SUV and forcing the gunmen to dive behind their doors.
“We need to move! Now!” Lucian grabbed her arm, dragging her back into the car as he slammed the accelerator.
The sedan leaped forward, charging directly between the two stopped SUVs, scraping metal against metal in a shower of sparks before breaking free and tearing down the narrow coastal highway.
Behind them, the lead SUV tried to turn around, but its radiator had been punctured by Elena’s gunfire. A thick plume of white steam billowed into the night sky as it sputtered and died on the bridge.
Inside the car, the adrenaline was a physical roar in Elena’s ears. Her hands trembled slightly as she laid the weapon back on the floorboards.
She looked at Lucian. His face was pale, a thin line of fresh blood soaking through the bandages beneath his suit jacket, but his eyes were blazing with an intense, unbreakable fire.
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“You’re full of surprises, Dr. Vance,” he said, a grim smile touching his lips.
“You haven't seen anything yet,” she replied, wiping a smudge of gunpowder from her cheek.
