Chapter 8
The howling wind whipped the snow into a blinding white wall as Clara and Marcus pushed their way through the drift-locked gate leading to the old railway property. Behind them, Officer Miller followed closely, his heavy flashlight cutting a weak, amber beam through the swirling flakes. The skeletal steel framework of the abandoned railway bridge loomed ahead like a massive prehistoric beast half-buried in ice.
Clara clutched the baby tightly inside her heavy wool coat, the green reindeer onesie completely shielded from the biting frost. Her boots crunched heavily on the frozen wooden ties of the tracks, every step a treacherous battle against the wind.
"Clara, please, let me carry him," Marcus pleaded over the roar of the storm, his face frostbitten and pale. "You’re freezing. You’re going to collapse."
"Shut up, Marcus, and watch your footing!" Clara snapped back, her breath pluming in the freezing air like thick cigarette smoke. "She’s out here. I can feel it."
As they reached the midpoint of the bridge, where the wooden structure spanned a frozen, churning river far below, the beam of Miller’s flashlight caught a dark figure standing near the rusted central stanchion.
It was Elena.
She stood at the very edge of the open platform, her burgundy blouse hidden beneath a heavy black parka, her blonde hair whipping wildly around her face. In her arms, she held a bundle wrapped in a blue knitted blanket—the second missing infant.
"Elena! Stop right there!" Officer Miller shouted, drawing his service weapon, though he kept it pointed safely toward the wooden planks to avoid slipping on the ice. "The area is completely surrounded! Put the child down and step away from the ledge!"
Elena turned slowly, a chilling smile cutting across her pale face. She didn't look panicked; she looked triumphant.
"You're too late, Officer!" Elena’s voice carried clearly over the gale. "The train from Chicago is scheduled to pass through the lower valley line in five minutes. Once it crosses the junction, the remote switcher I installed will divert the line right through this spur."
Marcus took a desperate step forward, raising his hands in a placating gesture. "Elena, put the baby down! What are you trying to prove? You’re destroying your own life for money that the federal government is going to freeze anyway!"
"Money?" Elena laughed hysterically, the sound sharp and grating against the wind. "You still don't get it, Marcus. This was never about the money."
Clara stepped past Marcus, her eyes locked on the blue blanket in Elena’s arms. "Then what is it, Elena? Why my child? Why would you do this to your own flesh and blood?"
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Elena’s expression darkened instantly, a flash of pure, unadulterated venom twisting her features. "Because you always had everything, Clara. The perfect husband, the perfect life, and now... the perfect family. It was time someone reminded you what it feels like to lose it all."
Before anyone could move, a low, ominous rumble echoed from deep within the gorge below, followed by the blinding sweep of a massive locomotive headlight cutting through the blizzard.
