Chapter 24
Exit 42 was an abandoned industrial sector—a graveyard of rusted factories and gravel lots buried under two feet of snow. The blustery wind whipped flakes across the headlights, reducing visibility to mere yards.
Ethan pulled Melissa’s car into the shadows of an old grain silo. A minute later, his father’s heavy-duty Ford truck roared into the lot, fishtailing to a stop.
Richard climbed out, carrying a heavy canvas duffel bag and a bolted-action rifle. His face was weathered, carved with guilt.
“Here’s the cash,” Richard said, shoving the bag through Ethan’s window. “It’s forty-eight thousand. It’ll have to be enough.”
“Dad, you can’t come with me,” Ethan said. “Marcus is watching the tracker. He expects me alone.”
“I’m not letting you go into a slaughterhouse alone, son,” Richard growled. “I let your mother destroy this family for thirty years because I was too weak to fight. I am not losing my grandson because of her sins.”
Ethan looked at the GPS tracker. The dot had stopped moving. It was stationary, barely two miles away at an abandoned weigh station off the highway.
“Fine,” Ethan said. “But you stay in the truck. If things go sideways, you block the road.”
Ethan looked at Melissa. “Stay here. Call the state police. Tell them exactly where we are.”
May you like
Melissa nodded, tears freezing on her cheeks. “Ethan... bring them back.”
Ethan slammed the car into drive, the cash bag sitting on the passenger seat, his eyes locked on the blinking red dot of death.
