Chapter 8 - The Hidden Signature
The red emergency strobe lights cast rhythmic, bleeding shadows across Elena’s terrified face. She stumbled backward, tripping over the hem of her white blazer as she hit the side of the smoking SUV.
"That's a lie! She's delirious from the carbon monoxide!" Elena shrieked, her voice cracking into a hysterical pitch that cut sharply through the wailing roof alarm. "She doesn't know what she's saying!"
Jax stood up slowly, towering over Elena with a dark, menacing aura that made the air around them feel suffocating. The tattoos on his muscular arms seemed to writhe in the crimson light as he flexed his fingers into tight fists.
"She hasn't even looked inside the glove box tonight, Elena. So how did she know the papers were in there?" Jax asked, his voice dropping into a lethal, quiet whisper.
Elena opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. Her jaw worked silently as her eyes darted toward the three identical black SUVs idling menacingly at the estate gates. The headlights of the middle vehicle suddenly flashed twice in a rhythmic, coded sequence.
"We need to get off this property right now," Jax muttered, ignoring Elena's panic as he scooped Sarah up into his arms. Her head lolled limply against his broad shoulder, her breathing dangerously shallow.
"Lily, stay right behind me. Do not let go of my shirt," Jax instructed, his tone leaving no room for argument.
"Where are we going, Jax? The gates are blocked!" Lily cried, clutching the hem of his black shirt so hard her knuckles turned white.
"Through the south botanical gardens. The perimeter fence is lower there," Jax said, turning his back on the sealed manor and the smoking vehicle.
"You can't leave me here!" Elena screamed, lunging forward and grabbing Jax's arm. "They'll kill me! You saw the way those cars flashed!"
Jax yanked his arm away with a brutal jerk, sending Elena sprawling onto the cold pavement. "You signed your own death warrant when you locked that car, Elena. Consider yourself lucky I'm not leaving you to burn with the house."
He turned and bolted toward the overgrown hedges of the southern gardens, carrying Sarah with terrifying speed while Lily sprinted desperately to keep up. Behind them, the front doors of the grand manor blew outward with a deafening explosion of splintered oak and iron, sending shockwaves rippling across the courtyard.
Flames erupted from the shattered entryway, licking greedily up the white stone pillars as the automated fire suppression system failed completely.
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Jax dove into the shadow of the dense boxwood maze, pulling Lily down beside him just as a volley of suppressed gunfire ripped through the foliage overhead, tearing leaves and branches to shreds just inches above their heads.
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