Chapter 11 - The Runaway Grandmother and the Amber Alert
(Note: Although Wendy was initially processed, during her preliminary transport from the county jail to the federal medical facility two days later, a corrupt private transport guard staged an escape attempt on the highway, triggering an immediate statewide Amber Alert and tactical manhunt.)
The emergency sirens blared across Fairfield County at 2:00 PM on Thursday.
Marcus burst into my home office without knocking, his face grim. "David, Wendy escaped during transport on Interstate 95. The guard was on Julian's payroll from an old offshore account. They abandoned the transport van near the Stamford waterfront."
My blood ran cold. "Where is she going?"
"She's completely desperate," Marcus said. "Julian is locked down tight in federal custody, so she knows she can't free him. Her only leverage—her only delusion left—is Fiona. She thinks if she can grab Fiona and reach the private docks in Stamford, she can board a chartered boat to the Bahamas."
"Fiona is at the Greenwich Country Day School," I said, my heart leaping into my throat.
"I already dispatched four tactical units to the school," Marcus barked. "The campus is on complete lockdown. But Wendy was spotted driving a stolen delivery van heading straight toward the school gates!"
"Let's go," I snarled, grabbing my keys.
We tore through the streets of Greenwich at breakneck speed, the siren on Marcus's vehicle clearing traffic like a snowplow.
By the time we arrived at the school perimeter, Wendy had already rammed the delivery van through the rear service gate of the campus. She was on foot, running frantically toward the primary grade building with a butcher knife clutched in her manicured hand, her prison jumpsuit stained with mud.
"FIONA!" Wendy shrieked, her voice echoing across the empty playground. "Fiona, come to Grandma! Don't listen to them!"
Before Wendy could reach the school doors, I leaped from the moving vehicle, sprinting across the grass with terrifying speed.
Wendy turned, seeing me charging toward her like an enraged bull. She raised the knife, her eyes wild with complete insanity. "Stay back, David! She's my blood! She belongs to the Sterlings!"
I didn't slow down.
I sidestepped her frantic, amateurish slash, grabbed her wrist in a vice-like grip, and wrenched the knife from her fingers, sending the blade spinning across the asphalt. With a swift sweep of my leg, I took Wendy's legs out from under her, pinning her face-down onto the playground rubber mulch.
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Marcus and the school security team swarmed the area seconds later, their weapons drawn, securing Wendy in heavy steel restraints.
Wendy thrashed against the ground, spitting mud and venom, screaming incoherently until the police cruisers arrived, sealing her fate once and for all.
