Chapter 13 - The Trap at Platform Four
The harsh fluorescent glare of Union Station’s Platform Four cut through the swirling dust motes inside the freight car. Lily shrank further back behind the wooden pallets, pulling her oversized wool blanket up over her head in a desperate attempt to blend into the shadows.
"Clear out this sector!" a harsh voice barked from the platform outside. "Nobody boards this train until federal clearance is verified."
Heavy footsteps echoed inside the boxcar. The beam of a tactical flashlight swept across the floor, painting the rusty iron walls with a stark white circle of light that crept closer and closer to Lily’s hiding spot. Her heart hammered against her ribs like a trapped bird. She squeezed her eyes shut, whispering a silent plea for her father to somehow appear and pull her away from the darkness.
"Hey! You down there in the back!" a voice shouted as the flashlight beam locked onto the space behind the newsprint pallets.
A gloved hand reached out, grabbing the edge of the wooden pallet and yanking it aside with a heavy crash. Lily gasped, stumbling backward until her spine hit the cold steel wall of the boxcar.
An agent in plainclothes tactical gear loomed over her, his gas mask dangling from his belt. He didn't look angry; his expression was unreadable, professional, and chillingly detached.
"Got her," the agent spoke into a comms unit clipped to his collar. "Sector four freight siding secured. Securing the package now."
Before the agent could reach down to grab her arm, a shadow dropped silently from the ceiling rafters above the open cargo door.
With a swift, practiced motion, a figure in a damp army field jacket tackled the agent from behind, driving him hard against the iron wall of the boxcar. The agent grunted, his flashlight clattering onto the concrete platform below as the two men locked in a violent, silent struggle for dominance.
"Dad!" Lily screamed, scrambling forward through the dust.
It was Jax. His wrists were still bruised from the zip-ties, his face covered in fresh dirt and sweat, but his eyes burned with an unstoppable, primal fury. He had broken out of the holding facility, hijacked a transport vehicle, and tracked the freight line all the way to the capital.
"Lily, take my hand!" Jax yelled, driving his elbow into the agent's side and sending the man crashing backward out of the boxcar onto the concrete platform.
Jax grabbed Lily by her small wrists, lifting her effortlessly into his arms as he leaped down from the freight car onto Platform Four just as a squad of tactical operatives rounded the corner fifty yards away, shouting orders and drawing their weapons.
"Stop right there, Sergeant Miller! Federal custody!" the lead officer bellowed, raising an assault rifle.
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Jax didn't stop. Clutching Lily tightly to his chest, he sprinted straight toward the crowded public concourse, weaving through the maze of screaming commuters and falling luggage just as the station'
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