Chapter 5 - THE ESCAPE INTO THE SLEET
The wooden frame of the motel door gave way with a deafening crack.
Emily didn't hesitate.
She lunged toward the bathroom, scrambling onto the Formica countertop, and shoved the small frosted-glass window outward with both hands.
The glass shattered, shards raining down into the alley below.
Freezing Wisconsin sleet hit her face like a handful of needles.
She squeezed her body through the narrow frame, scraping her shoulder against the jagged aluminum edges, and dropped awkwardly onto the muddy asphalt two stories below.
Pain shot up her right ankle.
She cried out, biting down hard on her forearm to stifle the sound, and staggered to her feet.
"She’s in the bathroom!" a voice shouted from inside the ruined motel room. "Break the window!"
Emily limped into the labyrinth of garbage bins and parked delivery trucks behind the motel as heavy boots crunched on the glass behind her.
The sleet turned into a blinding whiteout blizzard.
She ran blindly between two brick warehouses, her breath coming in ragged, freezing gasps, her hands numb inside her pockets.
Behind her, the deep, unmistakable roar of a custom V8 Mercedes engine echoed down the alley.
Twin beams of high-intensity headlights cut through the swirling snow, illuminating the brick walls like searchlights.
Emily ducked behind a rusted industrial dumpster, pressing her back against the freezing metal, her hands clamped over her mouth to muffle the sound of her panting breath.
The Mercedes stopped ten feet away.
The passenger door opened.
A pair of polished Italian leather shoes stepped out onto the slush.
Alessandro Vitale.
He wore his black cashmere overcoat, his dark hair dusted with white snowflakes, his face an impassive mask of absolute, terrifying fury.
He didn't run. He didn't shout.
He walked slowly down the alley, his eyes scanning the ground, tracking her footprints in the fresh snow.
"Emily," his voice cut through the wind, low and carrying an impossible weight of authority. "You are only making it harder on yourself. And on the child."
Emily closed her eyes, hot tears freezing on her cheeks.
He was too close.
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If he looked behind the dumpster, it was over.
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