Chapter 9 - RED HOLLOW BURNS
The second explosion blew out the tunnel lights.
“Move!” Daniel shouted.
They ran deeper underground.
Behind them, gunfire echoed through the drainage passage.
Daniel knew every turn.
Eli realized his father had been living in Red Hollow for weeks.
Maybe months.
“Left!”
They turned.
A bullet struck the wall.
Luis returned fire.
Harlan shouted, “How many exits?”
“Three!”
“Which one?”
“The one they don’t know about.”
They reached an old mine shaft blocked by wooden beams.
Daniel kicked loose a panel.
Cold rain poured through.
One by one, they climbed into the forest.
Red Hollow burned below them.
Flames rose around abandoned buildings.
Black-clad men moved between vehicles.
Eli watched from behind a rock.
“That’s Knox?”
A silver SUV stopped near the mine entrance.
An older man stepped out beneath an umbrella.
Perfect coat.
Gray hair.
Calm smile.
Adrian Knox.
Harlan stared at the man he had called a friend for thirty years.
Knox lifted a loudspeaker.
“Thomas!”
His voice rolled across the hillside.
“I know you’re up there.”
Harlan’s face hardened.
Knox continued.
“Daniel has filled your head with stories. He’s sick. He’s been sick for years.”
Daniel whispered, “Same playbook.”
Knox spoke again.
“Bring me the drive, and the boy walks away.”
Eli muttered, “He keeps talking like I’m not here.”
Daniel looked at him.
“That’s useful.”
“How?”
“Men like Knox underestimate people they don’t respect.”
Eli glanced toward the burning town.
“Like Marcus.”
“Exactly.”
Daniel pointed toward a ridge.
“There’s a ranger station two miles east. Satellite radio.”
Luis nodded.
“Get the evidence out.”
They started moving.
A drone buzzed overhead.
Daniel looked up.
“Run!”
The first shot hit a tree.
Not a military drone.
A commercial hunting drone fitted with a camera and remote weapon mount.
Eli sprinted through the rain.
Harlan stumbled.
Eli grabbed his arm.
“Come on!”
“Don’t worry about me!”
“You’re my grandfather now, remember?”
Even Harlan laughed.
Then another burst of gunfire tore across the trail.
Luis cried out and dropped.
“Luis!”
Blood spread across his side.
Daniel dragged him behind a fallen log.
“We can’t stay.”
Luis shoved him away.
“Take the kid.”
“No.”
“Daniel.”
“No.”
Luis grabbed Daniel’s shirt.
“I pulled you out once. Don’t make me do it again.”
Daniel stared at his old friend.
Luis smiled weakly.
“I’ll keep them busy.”
Harlan shook his head.
“You won’t last five minutes.”
“Then don’t waste four of them arguing.”
Daniel’s face twisted.
Eli understood instantly.
Luis was staying.
They moved.
Thirty seconds later, gunfire erupted behind them.
Then came a massive explosion.
Eli stopped.
Daniel grabbed his arm.
“Don’t look back.”
Eli’s eyes filled.
“Was he—”
“Move!”
They reached the ranger station just as the radio tower came into view.
Then Daniel stopped cold.
Marcus stood on the porch.
And he had a gun pressed against the head of a woman Eli knew.
May you like
His aunt Rachel.
The woman who had raised him after his father disappeared.
