Chapter 4 - The Hunt in the Storm
The storm had turned the streets of Chicago into a churning maze of wet asphalt and blinding glare.
Ethan drove his black SUV down Michigan Avenue, with Clara sitting in the back holding Maya securely in her car seat, while Leo sat in the front passenger seat.
Ethan’s phone was ringing incessantly on the dashboard display: CALL FROM: CORPORATE COUNSEL - REJECTED. CALL FROM: DONALD STERLING - REJECTED.
"Ethan, where are we going?" Clara asked, her voice tight with anxiety as she looked out the rain-streaked rear window. "The hospital security guards looked terrified when we checked Maya out early."
"Sterling controls the hospital board, Clara," Ethan explained, his eyes darting continuously to the rearview mirror. "If we stayed there, he would have seized the original paper charts and wiped the local server backups. We are going to my private laboratory in Evanston. I have a clean, air-gapped server there where I keep the unedited source code for the scanner software."
Suddenly, Leo looked into the side mirror. "Mister Ethan... that gray van behind us has been turning every time you turn since we left the garage."
Ethan glanced at the side mirror. A heavy gray delivery van with blacked-out windows was trailing three car lengths behind them, moving without its headlights on.
"Hold on!" Ethan barked, slamming his foot on the accelerator!
The SUV’s engine roared to life, surging forward through a yellow light onto Lake Shore Drive!
The gray van instantly accelerated, its high beams flashing on, blinding Ethan through his rearview mirror! The van surged up alongside the driver's side of Ethan’s SUV, attempting to sideswipe them off the slick, rain-soaked highway toward the concrete barrier overlooking the churning lake!
CRASH!
Sparks flew into the night sky as metal ground against metal! Clara screamed, holding Maya’s car seat tightly against her chest!
"Ethan!" Clara yelled!
"I've got it!" Ethan gripped the steering wheel with white knuckles, fighting the hydroplaning tires!
"Turn right at the old pier!" Leo yelled out, pointing through the torrents of rain. "There’s a narrow alleyway past the brick warehouse! Big cars can't fit through it!"
Ethan didn't hesitate. He trusted the twelve-year-old boy's incredible spatial memory implicitly. He slammed on the brakes, sending the SUV into a controlled skid, whipping the steering wheel hard to the right!
The SUV mounted the curb, squeezing through two iron posts guarding a narrow brick alleyway!
The larger gray van tried to follow, but it was too wide!
BOOM!
The van slammed headfirst into the heavy iron posts, its front radiator exploding in a cloud of white steam and shattered glass, completely wedged between the brick walls!
Ethan didn't slow down. He drove through the alleyway, weaving through a series of backstreets until the flashing red lights of the crash vanished into the storm behind them.
Inside the quiet SUV, Ethan let out a massive breath of adrenaline-fueled air. He looked over at Leo, who was sitting upright, his eyes calm and focused.
"Where did you learn about that alleyway, Leo?" Ethan asked, marveling at the boy's composure.
"I slept behind that warehouse two winters ago," Leo said simply, looking out the window. "You learn where the small spaces are when you're trying to hide from the wind."
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Ethan felt a deep, profound ache in his heart. This brilliant, observant child had been sleeping in alleys while billionaires played games with human lives.
"You're never going back to those alleys, Leo," Ethan vowed softly. "I promise you."
