Chapter 9 - THE GRAIN ELEVATORS
The abandoned grain elevators towered over Route 41.
Rusting iron silos scraped against the gray sky.
Our vehicles stopped half a mile away in a tree line.
"Thermal drone shows three men on the second floor," Marcus reported.
"And your mother?" Luca asked me.
"Tied to a steel support beam near the central hopper."
Luca unlatched his tactical vest.
"Claire, you stay in the lead vehicle with the comms."
"No way," I unbuckled my seatbelt.
"That's my mother up there. I'm going in."
Luca looked like he wanted to argue.
Then he saw the fire in my eyes.
He gave a sharp nod.
"Stay behind my shoulder. Every step."
We moved through the overgrown weeds in silence.
The damp wind muffled our footsteps.
We reached the rusting personnel door of Silo B.
Luca motioned for Marcus to take the left flank.
Two guards stood smoking near the entrance.
Before they could stub out their cigarettes, Marcus struck.
Two muffled thuds.
Both men slumped silently into the dirt.
We slipped inside the cavernous concrete structure.
Dust particles danced in shafts of weak sunlight.
We climbed the spiral iron staircase to the second floor.
There, tied to a massive steel beam, sat my mother.
Her head slumped forward, eyes closed.
"Mom!" I cried out, starting to run forward.
Luca caught my arm, pulling me back.
"Wait."
Across the room, a man stepped out of the shadows.
It wasn't one of Arthur Vance's thugs.
It was Rebecca.
Luca's younger sister.
She held a detonator in her trembling hand.
May you like
Luca went completely rigid.
"Rebecca," he whispered.
