Chapter 2 - The Woman Who Ran
Rebecca sprinted down the sidewalk in high heels.
Dennis shouted into his radio.
“Stop the woman in the red blazer.”
Two officers near the barricades moved to intercept her.
Rebecca reached the first black SUV.
The driver immediately unlocked the door.
That told Dennis everything.
This was not panic.
This was preparation.
Rebecca climbed inside.
The SUV shot away from the curb before an officer could reach it.
William stared after the vehicle.
“Who was driving?”
Dennis narrowed his eyes.
“Not one of our federal drivers.”
Eli clutched the strap of his backpack.
“She’s going to the hospital.”
William turned.
“How do you know?”
“She followed us yesterday.”
“Us?”
“My mom and me.”
Eli’s voice trembled now.
“She waited outside our apartment.”
“She thought I didn’t see her.”
“But Mom did.”
William crouched in front of him.
“What happened yesterday?”
Eli looked at the ring in William’s hand.
“My mom found an old box.”
“What was in it?”
“Letters.”
William went still.
“How many?”
“A lot.”
“Where are they?”
Eli touched his backpack.
William’s eyes moved toward it.
Eli stepped back.
“Mom said not to give them to you until you told the truth.”
“What truth?”
“She said you would know.”
Sirens sounded in the distance.
Dennis opened the rear door of the county cruiser.
“We need to get to St. Catherine’s before Rebecca does.”
William guided Eli toward the car.
A young campaign aide hurried outside.
“Senator, reporters are asking whether this is a security threat.”
William stopped.
He looked at the cameras now gathering near the doors.
Then he looked at the shivering child beside him.
“No.”
His voice carried across the entrance.
“The threat is not the boy.”
Several reporters raised their microphones.
“Then what is happening?”
William held up the scratched ring.
“The truth is happening.”
Rebecca watched the statement from the back seat of the fleeing SUV.
A live news stream played on her phone.
Her driver glanced into the mirror.
“He’s going public.”
“Not yet.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“Call St. Catherine’s.”
“And say what?”
Rebecca stared at Eli’s image on the screen.
“Tell them Mara Ellison is being transferred.”
The driver frowned.
“Transferred where?”
“Anywhere Harlan cannot reach her.”
He made the call.
Rebecca opened a secure messaging app.
One unread message waited.
It contained only five words.
The boy must lose the letters.
Rebecca looked through the rear window.
The police cruiser was closing in.
May you like
And inside that cruiser, Eli quietly opened his backpack.
The letters were gone.
