Chapter 4 - The Escape Through the Ash
Tessa didn't hesitate. She grabbed Wren by the arm, dragging her toward the fire escape window at the far end of the small bedroom.
"Marcus!" Tessa screamed toward the door as wood splintered under a second heavy blow.
"Go, Tessa! Take the window!" Marcus’s voice cried out from the hallway, followed by a grunt of pain and the sound of a heavy struggle.
Tessa yanked the metal window frame upward. The cold night air rushed into the room, carrying the smell of exhaust and damp asphalt from the alleyway three stories below.
She pushed Wren onto the rusted iron grating of the fire escape first, then climbed through after her, pulling the window shut behind them.
Inside the bedroom, the wooden door lock snapped with a sound like a pistol shot. Gavin stepped into the room, holding a matte-black semi-automatic pistol, flanked by two men in dark tactical gear. His eyes locked onto Tessa through the glass.
"Tessa, don't do this!" Gavin shouted, rushing toward the window.
Tessa grabbed a heavy iron flowerpot sitting on the fire escape ledge and slammed it through the window glass, sending a shower of jagged shards raining into the bedroom. Gavin recoiled, raising his arm to protect his face.
"Run, Wren!" Tessa yelled.
They scrambled down the rusted iron stairs, their footsteps clattering in the narrow brick alleyway. Below them, a sleek black SUV pulled into the alley entrance, its headlights cutting through the darkness, blinding them.
Tessa reached the bottom ladder, her boots hitting the damp asphalt. She pulled Wren behind her, reaching into her blazer pocket for the small can of pepper spray she kept on her keychain.
The SUV's side door slid open.
Tessa raised the can, ready to spray whoever stepped out, but the figure in the doorway didn't draw a weapon.
It was an older man with silver hair, wearing a high-collared wool overcoat, holding open the rear door.
"Tessa Vance," the man said, his voice deep, clipped, and bearing a faint Swiss accent. "I am Henri Laurent, Chief Legal Trustee for the Mercer Estate Blind Trust. If you want your daughter to see tomorrow morning, get in the car now."
Behind them, the crash of boots coming down the fire escape echoed through the alley. Gavin was descending the ladder, his pistol drawn.
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Tessa looked at the stranger, looked at her frightened daughter, and made her choice.
She grabbed Wren, leapt into the back of the SUV, and slammed the door shut just as three bullet rounds slammed into the bulletproof glass of the rear window. The SUV accelerated, its tires screaming against the asphalt as it burst out of the alley and melted into the midnight traffic of Manhattan.
