Chapter 12
The heavy fog rolling off the harbor surged inward like a living wall, swallowing the industrial pier in a thick, gray shroud of mist. As the chief cursed and clutched his bleeding hand, Ellie scrambled across the damp concrete, her blue denim overalls scraping against the rough surface.
"Grandpa!" she screamed, crawling blindly toward Arthur's legs.
Arthur dropped to his knees, ignoring the tactical operatives closing in around them, and scooped Ellie up into his arms, burying her face against his shoulder. "I've got you, sweet girl. I've got you. Close your eyes."
"Move in! Take them down!" the chief roared, his voice distorted by pain and fury as he pointed a trembling finger from the ground.
Automatic gunfire chewed through the wooden pallets behind them, sending lethal splinters flying through the air. Miller didn't hesitate. He drew his Glock and fired three rapid shots into the overhead industrial transformer hanging from the crane above.
A shower of blinding white sparks and electrical cables plummeted straight down onto the wet pavement between the operatives and Arthur, creating a roaring wall of high-voltage fire and smoke.
"This way! Run!" Miller yelled, grabbing Arthur by the arm and dragging him toward a narrow maintenance tunnel built into the side of the warehouse.
They sprinted through the dark, subterranean corridor, the sound of shouting guards and popping gunfire echoing behind them like distant thunder. Arthur held Ellie tight against his chest, her small hands clutching the frayed fabric of his blue cardigan as she buried her face in his neck.
They burst out of the far end of the tunnel into a labyrinth of narrow alleyways behind the historic warehouse district. The fog was denser here, muting the sounds of the city and cloaking their escape in blessed anonymity.
Miller slammed his back against a brick wall, gasping for air as he checked the magazine of his pistol. Only two rounds left. "We... we lost them for now. But they'll sweep every street within a ten-block radius."
"They won't look in the old bomb shelter beneath Saint Jude's church," Arthur said quietly, setting Ellie down on her feet. He knelt beside her, checking her over for injuries. Her knees were scraped and dirty, but she was breathing steadily. "Can you walk for a few minutes, Ellie?"
"I want Barnaby," she whispered, her lower lip trembling as she looked up at him with wide, exhausted eyes.
Arthur froze, his heart sinking. In the chaos of the shipping container and the shootout on the pier, they had left the real transmitter-embedded teddy bear behind on the wooden crate.
"We lost the bear, sweetheart," Arthur said gently, brushing a strand of light hair from her forehead. "But I'm right here. I'm never leaving you again."
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"No, grandpa," Ellie said, her tiny hand reaching out to touch his cheek with surprising certainty. "The bad men didn't take Barnaby. I put him in the chief's pocket when he picked me up."
Miller let out a sudden, breathless laugh of disbelief. "She planted the tracker right back on him."
