Chapter 5 - The Dawn Ambush and the Tunnel Escape
"Jonathan Sterling! Step out with your hands up!" a harsh voice boomed over a loudspeaker outside.
Emma burst into tears.
Jonathan moved swiftly to the corner of the room, pulling back a heavy wool rug to reveal a hidden wooden trapdoor in the floorboards.
"Grandfather built an underground root cellar that connects to an old drainage pipe leading down to the ravine," Jonathan explained, handing the documents and lockets to Elena. "Take Emma and go down first. Run down the old logging trail and don't look back."
"What about you?!" Elena cried.
"I need to buy us sixty seconds. Go!"
CRASH!
The front door splintered inward under a battering ram. Two armed operatives rushed in. Jonathan swung an iron fire poker, striking the lead guard's helmet and knocking him down, then delivered a devastating palm strike to the second guard's chest.
Richard stepped through the shattered doorway, pointing a revolver at Jonathan's chest. "Give me the girl!"
Jonathan seized the heavy oak coffee table and flipped it violently. The table crashed into Richard’s legs; the gun discharged into the ceiling rafters, and Richard fell howling in pain.
Jonathan dove into the trapdoor, slammed the hatch shut, bolted it from the inside, and sprinted through the dark drainage tunnel.
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Moments later, Jonathan burst out into the morning sunlight at the bottom of the ravine. Fifty yards ahead, Elena was running with Emma in her arms.
Jonathan caught up to them and took Emma into his arms. "My friend Marcus runs an auto repair shop near the state line. We can get an untraceable car from him!"
