Chapter 41
CHAPTER 41 — THE VANISHING ACT
The darkness inside the cabin was total, loud, and absolute. The detonation from the back window echoed like a thunderclap, filling the small room with the sharp scent of sulfur and pulverized wood.
"Lily!" Claire screamed, her voice tearing at her throat as she fired blindly toward the shattered window.
But there was no reply. Only the rushing sound of the Atlantic wind pouring through the broken wall.
When the red laser dots from the marsh reeds suddenly vanished, Julian’s cold, melodic laughter drifted through the fog from the front porch. "Time is up, Claire. You chose poorly."
The ticking digital screen inside the black baby shoe hit 00:00. Alexander let out a choked, final gasp, his body seizing violently on the hardwood floor as his pacemaker short-circuited. He went completely still, his eyes staring blankly at the ceiling.
"Alex! No, please, no!" Claire dropped to her knees, her hands frantically pounding on her brother’s chest, trying to force his heart back to life. "You can't leave me! Not you too!"
From the shadows near the kitchen, a flashlight clicked on, casting a long, steady beam over Alexander’s face. Claire whirled around, her pistol raised, ready to kill whatever monster stepped forward.
But the face behind the light wasn't a mercenary. It was Anna Carter.
She was covered in soot, her clothes torn from her escape from Fort Preble, but her hands were steady as she rushed forward, slamming a high-voltage medical defribrillator pen directly into Alexander’s neck. "Step back, Claire! Clear!"
An electric arc snapped through the dark. Alexander’s body arched off the floor, his chest heaving as a ragged, agonizing breath tore through his lungs. His heart was beating again.
Anna grabbed Claire’s jacket, pulling her up with terrifying strength.
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"Julian didn't take her," Anna hissed, her eyes wild with a mixture of terror and fierce determination. "I followed him from Maine. I was hiding in the reeds. Someone else breached the back window from the water. Someone who isn't working for Julian... or Victoria."
Claire looked at the empty white box on the floor. The black baby shoes were gone. And so was her daughter.
