Chapter 2 - Shadows in the Storm
The heavy oak doors of the barn were kicked open with a thunderous crack that drowned out the howling wind.
Lily didn't hesitate. She scrambled backward like a rat, slipping into the narrow crawlspace beneath the rotting floorboards where the old grain chute ran. She pulled her knees to her chest, her chin pressed against her wet denim jacket, breathing through her nose to stay silent. Dust and cobwebs settled over her hair.
Through a gap in the floorboards, she could see the entrance of the barn.
Two men stepped inside. They wore dark raincoats, their faces obscured by low-brimmed hats. One carried a heavy metal flashlight whose beam cut through the darkness like a blade; the other had his hand tucked deep inside his coat pocket, pushing out a shape Lily recognized instantly from the streets of Oakridge. A gun.
"Check the car," a voice rasped. It was flat, cold, devoid of any human warmth.
The flashlight beam flickered over the crushed silver sports car, then tracked down to the body lying in the dirt.
"He's still breathing, Vance," the man with the flashlight said, kicking the man’s leather shoe. "Barely. The beam tore him up pretty good."
The man named Vance stepped closer, crouching down beside the bleeding millionaire. He reached out and used the tip of an umbrella to lift the bloody blue cloth covering the wound.
"Well, well. Arthur Montgomery," Vance sneered softly. "The great Titan of Montgomery Global, bleeding out in a barn in the middle of nowhere. Julian sends his warmest regards."
Arthur let out a wet, rattling gasp, his eyes narrowing as he glared up at the man. "Julian... won't get... the shares..."
"Julian already has them, Arthur," Vance replied, standing up and brushing a speck of dust from his coat sleeve. "The board meeting is in twelve hours. When you fail to show up, your emergency proxy defaults to your beloved brother. By the time they find your cold body in this heap of trash, the buyout will be finalized."
Vance reached into his coat and pulled out a small glass vial and a syringe.
"We were going to make it look like a tragic steering failure," Vance continued calmly, tapping the glass. "A little air in the vein will finish what the oak beam started. Clean. Quiet."
Beneath the floorboards, Lily’s breath hitched.
She looked at her empty pocket. The handkerchief was gone—it was currently soaked in Arthur’s blood under Vance’s boot. Her sister’s stars were covered in murder.
They're going to kill him, she realized. And then they'll search the barn to make sure no one saw.
Lily reached out into the pitch-black darkness of the crawlspace. Her fingers brushed against a cold, iron object. An old, rusted hay hook left behind by farmers decades ago. It was heavy, its tip sharp and jagged.
She gripped the wooden handle with both hands.
Above her, Vance knelt back down beside Arthur, grabbing the millionaire's arm to find a vein. "Don't struggle, Arthur. It makes it messy."
CLANG!
A deafening noise echoed from the far side of the barn.
A heavy iron pulley, dislodged from the upper loft, crashed onto the hood of an old rusted tractor, sending a shower of sparks and a metallic boom echoing off the high wooden walls.
"What the hell was that?!" the man with the flashlight yelled, snapping his beam toward the shadows.
"Check it out!" Vance ordered, his head turning sharp toward the darkness. "Now!"
The flashlight man drew a weapon from his coat and began walking slowly toward the rear loft, his boots heavy against the floorboards.
It was the only distraction Lily needed.
She didn't run away. She slipped out from the crawlspace behind Vance’s back like a ghost.
She didn't use the hay hook on the man. She knew she was too small, too weak. Instead, she swung the heavy iron hook with all her strength against the exposed fuel line of the crashed sports car, right where it leaked onto the dry hay beneath the engine.
Sparks flew as iron struck steel.
FZZZZZZ!
The dry hay ignited instantly. A wall of bright orange fire burst upward, consuming the driver's side of the car and throwing an blinding glare across the dark barn.
Vance screamed, jumping back as the heat scorched his face. "What the—!"
"Fire!" the second man yelled, running back toward the entrance as the dry wood of the old barn caught the flames like paper.
In the blinding light and smoke, Lily darted through the fire. She grabbed Arthur Montgomery by the collar of his expensive suit jacket.
"Get up!" she screamed, her small voice cutting through the roar of the flames. "GET UP!"
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Adrenaline, triggered by the sudden inferno, surged through Arthur’s failing body. He let out a primal roar, hauling himself up with his one good leg, leaning his entire weight onto the tiny seven-year-old girl.
Together, hidden by the thick black smoke rising from the burning hay, they stumbled out through the rotted rear drainage wall of the barn, collapsing into the freezing, torrential rain just as the roof of the loft caved in with a blinding explosion of sparks.
