Chapter 13 - The Trap at the Gate
The blast lifted the lead SUV onto two wheels and threw it into a ditch.
Anna screamed as Richard pulled her down below the window line.
The driver slammed the brakes.
Smoke rolled across the road.
“Ambush!” Alvarez shouted through the radio.
No gunfire followed.
The explosive had been buried beneath the gravel near the gate. It was not meant to destroy the convoy.
It was meant to stop it.
Two officers in the lead vehicle were injured but conscious.
The main road was blocked.
Alvarez swore. “North trail.”
They moved on foot through wet trees, tactical officers ahead of them.
Anna’s shoes sank into mud. Branches scratched her face. She did not care.
Every step repeated one word in her head.
Leo.
Leo.
Leo.
They reached the lake house from the rear.
It was a large cedar structure sagging with age, facing black water beneath the storm.
One light burned in an upstairs window.
A black SUV sat beside the boathouse.
Vanessa’s.
The tactical team surrounded the property.
Alvarez ordered Anna and Richard to remain behind an armored vehicle.
Then a gunshot cracked from inside the house.
Anna lunged forward.
Richard caught her.
“Let them work.”
“That could be Leo!”
“I know.”
Another sound came through the rain.
A child crying.
From below ground.
Anna tore free and ran toward the side of the house.
“Anna!”
She found metal cellar doors half-hidden beneath ivy.
Locked.
She grabbed the handles and pulled until pain shot through her cut palms.
“Leo!”
“Mommy!”
His voice came faintly from beneath her feet.
Richard reached her with an officer carrying a breaching tool.
The lock broke on the second strike.
They pulled the doors open.
A narrow staircase descended into darkness.
“Police!” the officer shouted.
No answer.
Anna heard Leo sobbing.
She started down.
At the bottom stood Catherine Mercer.
Richard’s mother held Leo against her chest.
One arm wrapped around him.
The other hand held a pistol.
Catherine’s silver hair was perfectly arranged despite the rain and chaos.
May you like
She looked at Anna with calm disgust.
“You,” she said, “have ruined this family long enough.”
