Chapter 4 - Running on Empty

The Ford screamed down Route 9, the speedometer needle vibrating at seventy-five in a fifty-five zone. In the rearview mirror, flashing blue and red lights appeared two bends behind me.

"Daddy, are the police going to take you to jail?" Juniper sobbed from the passenger seat, hugging her small knees to her chest.

"Nobody is taking anyone, June-bug," I said, forcing my voice to sound smooth as silk despite the adrenaline burning through my veins. "We're going on a little adventure. Hand me your pouch."

She handed me the canvas bag. I opened it with one hand while keeping the wheel steady. Inside was her primary inhaler, her backup, and a tiny digital pulse oximeter. I clipped the plastic sensor onto her index finger.

Oxygen: 94%. Low, but climbing back out of the danger zone.

"Check the glove box, baby. Grab my secondary phone."

She popped the latch and pulled out the old prepaid burner I kept for supply runs in dead-zone counties. I dialed Willa's personal number from memory.

She answered on the first ring. "Austin! Miller called for backup on the county channel. They're setting up a spike strip at the junction of 9 and Blackwood Road!"

"Did you save the video to the cloud before Orson smashed your screen?" I demanded, dodging a lumber truck around a blind curve.

"Yes! It auto-synced to my external drive at home," Willa answered quickly. "Austin, Orson isn't just trying to get rid of you. I overheard him talking to the estate attorney last night. The trust Sarah left for Juniper doesn't unlock when she turns eighteen. It unlocks the second Sarah’s direct heir turns five!"

"Juniper turns five in three days," I said, the pieces snapping together like iron jaws.

"If Juniper is placed under Orson's guardianship before her fifth birthday, Orson gains permanent executive control over Sarah's sixty-percent share of Vance Industries. That's worth eighty million dollars, Austin."

"They're trying to kill her before she costs them their company," I said, the cold truth washing over me.

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"Turn left onto Old Mill Trail right now!" Willa shouted. "Avoid the junction!"

I yanked the steering wheel hard to the left just as the cruiser's siren wailed behind the tree line.