Chapter 24
TRENT
The explosion ripped through the night behind us, a series of concussive thumps that punched the air from my lungs.
Heat washed over my back as I shielded Evelyn, both of us stumbling forward toward the waiting vehicles.
Flames clawed at the sky where the facility had stood, turning darkness to flickering orange light that caught on the sharp edges of the surrounding rocks.
“Keep moving,” I urged, my hand on Evelyn’s elbow as debris rained down around us.
Small chunks of concrete and metal pinged off the hood of the nearest vehicle where Flynn waited, driver’s door open.
The sound of secondary explosions rolled through the desert as the underground levels collapsed, burying everything beneath tons of rock and twisted metal.
Flynn waved us forward urgently. “Time to go, people! We got a girl to rescue!”
Sophia.
My heart hammered against my ribs, and I couldn’t seem to move. All I could think about was that little girl—her solemn eyes that had seen too much, her small hand in mine. The way she’d looked at me like I could keep her safe.
I’d failed her.
“Trent,” Evelyn said quietly beside me.
I turned to her, taking in the paleness of her face, the tight line of her mouth, the way her hands clenched and unclenched at her sides. She was barely holding herself together. I wanted to reach for her, to offer some comfort, but what could I say? What words existed for this moment?
My earpiece crackled, Kate’s voice cutting through my paralysis. “I’ve got satellite on the SUV. California plates, registered to Innovixus Labs, Helena Kovacs listed as primary driver. Current heading is northeast on County Road 89, speed approximately seventy miles per hour.”
“Destination?” I asked, forcing my voice to remain steady.
“Unknown, but the road map suggests she’s heading toward State Highway 12. From there, she could go north into Canada, east toward Idaho, or connect to I-90 toward any major city.”
Evelyn swayed slightly beside me, and I steadied her with a hand on her shoulder. The contact seemed to ground her. She straightened, pulling in a deep breath that shuddered in her chest.
“How long until she reaches the highway?” I asked.
“At current speed, fourteen minutes and thirty seconds,” Kate replied, the clicking of her keyboard audible over comms.
Rafe’s voice cut in, “Forest Service Road 12 runs parallel to County 89 for about six miles before intersecting. If we take that, we can cut her off before she hits the highway.”
“Copy that,” Ethan said. He turned to Flynn. “You, Rafe, and Leo take the lead vehicle. Pursue and intercept. Non-lethal takedown if possible—we need Kovacs unharmed.”
Flynn nodded once, already sliding behind the wheel of the tactical SUV.
“Bricks, you and Evelyn follow at a distance,” Ethan continued, checking his weapon. His eyes met mine briefly, communicating what he couldn’t say aloud.
Don’t do anything stupid and get that girl killed.
“Roger that, Grim,” I said aloud.
Flynn’s vehicle was already moving, tires kicking up dust as it accelerated down the access road.
I guided Evelyn to the second SUV, helping her into the passenger seat before sliding behind the wheel.
The engine roared to life under my hands, familiar and solid in a world that had tilted off its axis.
“Fourteen minutes,” I said, more to myself than to Evelyn as we pulled away, following the taillights ahead. “We can make it.”
Evelyn didn’t respond. Her gaze remained fixed straight ahead, her body tense as a bowstring.
I wished I could say something to reassure her, but words were useless now, so I pressed the accelerator harder, the SUV leaping forward as we hit the main road.
The digital clock on the dash read 12:37 AM.
Less than six hours since we’d gathered around Dutch’s kitchen table, planning the assault on the facility.
Six hours since Sophia had sat beside Evelyn, clutching her stuffed bunny and penguin, watching us all with those serious eyes that saw too much.
I blinked away the image, forcing myself to focus on the road. The headlights cut twin paths through the darkness, illuminating scrub brush and rocks that blurred at the edges of our speed. In my ear, Kate’s voice provided continuous updates.
“Target vehicle is maintaining speed. Nine miles from highway junction.”
“Copy,” Flynn replied over comms. “We’re three minutes from intercept point. Will deploy roadblock.”
“Kovacs has a child in the vehicle,” Rafe reminded everyone. “Standard pit maneuvers risk injury.”
“Noted,” Flynn responded. “We’ll use the barrier system. Stop without impact.”
My fingers tightened on the steering wheel.
They were talking about Sophia like she was just any child, just another civilian to extract.
Not the little girl who’d taught me a complicated hand-clapping game at the cabin two nights ago.
Not the kid who’d looked at me with complete trust when I told her monsters weren’t real.
“Trent,” Evelyn’s voice pulled me back from the edge. Her face was still pale, her eyes wide and glassy, but she’d gathered herself. “We’ll get her back.”
A statement, not a question. She needed me to be the operator she’d seen in action, not the man drowning in guilt and fear. She needed certainty.
I nodded once, swallowing hard. “We will.”
Kate’s voice returned, sharper now. “Update. Target vehicle has increased speed. Now at ninety miles per hour. Intercept window narrowing.”
“Push it, Flynn,” I said into my comm, pressing our own vehicle faster. The SUV’s engine growled as we hit seventy, then eighty, the frame vibrating around us. “We need to close the gap.”
“Working on it,” Flynn responded, his voice tight with concentration. “Forest Road isn’t exactly a highway. Lots of blind curves.”
“Six minutes to highway junction,” Kate warned. “Satellite shows no other traffic in the area. Clear road ahead for Kovacs.”
In the distance, I saw Flynn’s taillights vanish around a bend in the road. We were falling behind. My foot pressed the accelerator to the floor, but the gap wasn’t closing fast enough.
“Flynn, status?” I demanded.
“Setting up roadblock at intersection,” came the reply. “Ninety seconds.”
I did the math in my head. It would be close. Too close.
Beside me, Evelyn gripped the dashboard, her knuckles white. She hadn’t said a word since her simple declaration of faith in our ability to recover Sophia. I wondered if she believed it or if she’d just needed to say it aloud to keep herself together.
“Kate,” I said, “does Kovacs know we’re coming?”
“Unknown,” she replied. “But assume yes. Satellite shows no brake lights, no reduction in speed approaching the intersection.”
Which meant she wasn’t planning to stop. She’d risk crashing through a roadblock, risk injuring Sophia, rather than surrender her prize. The thought sent ice through my veins.
“Flynn, she’s not going to stop,” I warned. “Adjust accordingly.”
“Already on it,” he replied. “Deploying spike strip. If she tries to plow through, she’ll lose control before she can reach the highway.”
“And Sophia?” The question escaped before I could stop it.
A pause, then Flynn’s voice, unusually gentle. “We’ll get her out, Bricks. Trust us.”
Trust. Such a simple concept. So hard to actually do when everything that mattered was on the line.
“One minute to intercept,” Kate updated. “Target still at high speed.”
I rounded the curve where Flynn’s vehicle had disappeared and saw them ahead.
Their SUV was parked sideways across the intersection, blocking most of the road.
Rafe crouched behind it, weapon ready. Leo knelt at the edge of the asphalt, unrolling something across the road’s surface.
Flynn stood in the center, holding what looked like a launcher.
“Vehicle approaching from the east,” Kate warned. “Three seconds.”
Headlights appeared in the distance, moving fast. Too fast. The black SUV came into view, engine roaring as it barreled toward the intersection.
Flynn raised the launcher, aiming at the front of the oncoming vehicle. A net shot out, expanding in midair, weighted ends spreading to cover a large area directly in front of the SUV. The driver swerved hard, trying to avoid it.
The net caught the front end anyway, tangling in the wheel wells. The SUV lurched, tires squealing. For a moment, I thought it would flip, tumbling end over end in a crash that would shatter metal and bone alike. My heart stopped, Sophia’s face flashing before my eyes.
But the SUV didn’t flip. It spun instead, sliding sideways across the asphalt until it crashed into a drainage ditch beside the road with a sound of crumpling metal. Steam hissed from the damaged engine. The headlights cast crazy patterns across the scrub as they pointed skyward.
We were still a hundred yards away, but I could see Flynn, Rafe, and Leo converging on the disabled vehicle, weapons up but held low, ready but careful. Flynn reached the driver’s side first, yanking the door open. I saw his body language change immediately, tension radiating through his stance.
“Vehicle clear,” he reported. “No sign of the child. Kovacs is injured but conscious.”
Evelyn made a small, wounded sound beside me.
“What do you mean, no sign of the child?” I demanded, bringing our vehicle to a skidding stop behind Flynn’s. “Check the back seat, the trunk!”
“Bricks, there’s no one here,” Flynn repeated, his face grim in the harsh glare of headlights. “Just Kovacs.”
I was out of the SUV before it fully stopped, running toward the crash site. Evelyn was right behind me. We reached the damaged vehicle together, pushing past Flynn to see for ourselves.
Helena Kovacs sat slumped against the driver’s seat, blood trickling from a cut on her forehead.
She was maybe fifty, with sharp features and graying blonde hair pulled back in a severe bun.
Her white lab coat was spattered with blood from the crash, but her eyes were clear and alert as they tracked our approach.
And she was alone.
The back seat was empty. No child seat, no blanket, no sign that Sophia had ever been in the vehicle.
“Where is she?” Evelyn demanded, voice raw with panic. “Where’s my daughter?”
Kovacs’s thin lips curved in a small, satisfied smile despite her injuries. “Gone,” she said simply. “Well beyond your reach by now.”
“What the hell does that mean?” I grabbed the front of her lab coat, pulling her half out of the seat.
“You think I’d risk the primary asset in a ground transport?
” Kovacs asked, actually managing to sound disappointed in our intelligence.
“The girl was airlifted out before you even knew she was gone. A helicopter transport to a private airfield thirty miles west of here.” Her smile widened.
“The jet took off fifteen minutes ago. By now, she’s in international airspace. ”
Evelyn staggered backward as if struck. I felt the world tilting around me, everything I thought I knew crashing down. We’d been chasing a decoy. Wasting precious minutes while Sophia was flown further and further away.
“You’re lying,” I said, but the certainty in Kovacs’s eyes told me she wasn’t.
“Check with your satellite surveillance,” she suggested, seemingly unconcerned with my grip on her coat. “You’ll see I’m right.”
I pressed my earpiece. “Kate, I need confirmation on aircraft departures from all airfields thirty miles west of Garnett.”
The seconds that followed stretched like hours. I still held Kovacs, but my focus had shifted to the comms link, to Kate’s rapid typing in the background. Beside me, Evelyn stood frozen, her face blank with shock.
“Confirming Gulfstream G650 departed private airstrip at 0017 hours,” Kate finally replied, her voice carefully controlled. “Current heading is northwest over Canadian airspace. Flight plan filed for...” She paused, and when she continued, her voice was smaller. “For Helsinki, Finland.”
Finland. International waters. A country with no extradition treaty with the United States for non-violent offenses. And a research facility Innovixus maintained outside Helsinki, according to our intelligence briefs.
Kovacs must have read the realization on my face because she laughed, a small, satisfied sound. “You see? I told you. Beyond your reach.”
I released her coat, letting her fall back against the seat. My hands felt numb. My chest too tight to breathe properly.
We’d lost Sophia. Really lost her.
“No.” Evelyn’s voice cut through my spiraling thoughts.
She stood straighter now, something fierce and determined replacing the shock on her face.
“No, she is not beyond our reach. Nothing is beyond our reach.” She turned to me, her eyes burning with a fire I’d never seen before. “We’re going after her. Now.”
I stared at her for a moment, her certainty slowly igniting something in my own chest. She was right.
This wasn’t over.
Not by a long shot.
I leaned into the SUV, my face inches from Kovacs’s. “You can tell your friends to enjoy their head start. Because we’re coming for them and there’s nowhere in the world they can hide.”