Part 11
Fortunately for Laura, the heavy iron gate was still vibrating from the delivery truck's departure, leaving a gap just wide enough for her vehicle. She swerved violently, clipping her driver-side mirror against the iron post with a loud metallic snap, but she burst through the opening and rocketed out onto the main road.
She glanced in her rearview mirror. The scar-faced man had reached the gate, but he didn't have a vehicle nearby to immediately pursue her. He was standing in the road, frantically speaking into a cell phone. He was calling Vincent.
Laura’s hands were shaking so violently she could barely keep the car straight. The passenger window was gone, and the wind rushed into the cabin, cold and chaotic, filled with the scent of burning rubber and fear.
She drove for two blocks before her personal phone, sitting on the passenger seat amidst the broken glass, began to buzz furiously. The signal jammer from the bank was gone, and her network connection had finally returned.
The caller ID displayed Detective Harlan’s name.
She snatched the phone, pressing it to her ear while steering with one hand. "Harlan! Thank God! Vincent has Caleb's mother!" she screamed over the rushing wind.
"Laura! Where the hell are you?" Harlan's voice was frantic, accompanied by the loud, wailing sound of police sirens in his background. "I just got back to the bank. Sarah told me you left. The lobby is secure, and the boy is safe with my officers, but you completely compromised yourself! Where are you?"
"I have the evidence, Harlan," Laura said, her voice cracking as tears of pure adrenaline finally spilled over her cheeks. "I have the hard drive. I have his financial records. But Vincent called me. He told me he'd kill Caleb’s mother if I didn't bring them to the old railyard in thirty minutes."
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"Listen to me, Laura," Harlan ordered, his tone commanding and absolute. "Do not go to that railyard. Pull over right now. Give me your location, and my team will come get you. We will handle Vincent."
"You don't understand!" Laura shouted, looking at the clock on her dashboard. Time was evaporating. "He has eyes on me. His men are everywhere. If he sees a single cop before I get there, she dies. I saw the map, Harlan. I know exactly where he's holding her. I'm going in."
