Chapter 2 - The Child Driver
The engine of the heavy truck roared like an angry beast as Emma slammed the gear shift into drive.
She couldn't see over the steering wheel while reaching the pedals, so she had improvised in three seconds: Gabriel’s heavy leather duffel bag was wedged behind her back, propping her forward, while Gabriel himself lay semi-conscious in the passenger seat, his massive hand resting on the wheel to help guide her when her strength failed.
"Left... go left, kid..." Gabriel grunted, pressing a wad of shop towels against his bleeding abdomen.
The truck burst out of the warehouse, crashing through the rusted chain-link gate and fishtailing violently into the blinding snowstorm on River Road.
Emma’s small hands gripped the thick leather steering wheel until her knuckles turned white inside her mittens. The snow was falling so fast the windshield wipers could barely clear a path. The headlights illuminated a wall of white.
"I’m doing it!" Emma yelled over the roar of the V8 engine. "I'm driving!"
"Don't... speed..." Gabriel choked out, his eyes flickering open and closed. "Keep... it steady..."
Behind them, two sets of headlights snapped on in the rearview mirror. Don Carmine’s surviving scouts had spotted the truck. A black SUV accelerated, closing the distance rapidly, its horn blaring through the storm.
"They’re behind us!" Emma gasped, her eyes wide as she peeked over the dashboard.
Gabriel forced his eyes open. He reached down into the center console, pulled out a sleek, heavy black radio, and pressed the switch.
"Marco..." Gabriel rasped into the mic. "South... dock road... I have... a driver..."
Through the static, a shocked voice replied: "Boss?! Where are you? We lost your signal!"
"Pursuit behind us... block... the intersection..."
Gabriel dropped the radio. He looked at Emma. The child’s teeth were gritted, her tiny feet stomping down on the gas pedal as the heavy truck bounced violently over potholes and ice ruts.
"You’re... a tough kid, Emma," Gabriel whispered, feeling the cold darkness pulling at the edges of his mind.
"My mom says Hayes girls don't break," Emma shouted back, her small frame shaking from the force of the wheel.
Ahead, a pair of headlights appeared through the whiteout—not enemies, but a massive armored convoy led by Marco, Gabriel’s most loyal second-in-command. The heavy vehicles swerved across the road, forming an impenetrable steel barricade.
"Stop... the truck, Emma..." Gabriel breathed. "We’re home."
Emma slammed her foot onto the brake pedal with all her weight. The F-350 skidded, its tires screaming on the ice, coming to a halt less than ten feet from Marco’s lead vehicle. The pursuing SUV swerved to avoid the barricade, flipped over the embankment, and crashed into the frozen river below.
The door of the F-350 was thrown open. Marco and four heavily armed men rushed in, weapons raised, expecting a bloody ambush.
Instead, they found Gabriel Valenti bleeding out in the passenger seat—and a seven-year-old girl in a pink wool hat standing on the driver’s seat, panting, her hands still locked on the wheel.
"Boss!" Marco yelled, reaching in to pull Gabriel out.
"The kid..." Gabriel coughed, grabbing Marco’s collar with a final, desperate grip. "Protect... the kid... and find her mother..."
Then, Gabriel’s eyes rolled back, and he went completely limp.
"Get the medics!" Marco roared, lifting Gabriel’s massive body onto a stretcher. He turned back to Emma, who was staring at the blood on her mittens.
Before Marco could speak, the sound of footfalls crunching frantically through the snow echoed down the road.
"EMMA!"
Mara burst through the wall of snow, her hair wild, her coat torn, a tire iron gripped tightly in her hand. She saw the armed men, saw the blood, and saw her daughter standing in the cab of the truck.
"Get away from her!" Mara screamed, raising the iron, ready to fight the entire world.
Emma turned, her small face breaking into a sob for the first time all night. "MOMMY!"
Mara dropped the tire iron and threw herself into the truck, pulling Emma into her arms, sinking into the snow on her knees, crushing her child against her chest as if she could fuse them together.
Marco lowered his weapon, standing over the trembling mother and child as his men loaded Gabriel into the mobile medical unit.
"Mrs. Hayes?" Marco asked softly.
Mara looked up, her eyes burning with pure, unadulterated venom, shielding Emma behind her body. "If you touch her, I will tear your throat out."
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Marco didn't smile, but a look of profound respect passed over his rugged face. "Don Gabriel gave orders to protect you both. Your husband left something behind, didn't he?"
Mara reached into her coat, her hand closing tightly around the taped flash drive. "Take us to him," she demanded, her voice ringing like forged steel through the freezing storm. "Now."
